Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The Flick: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The Peeps: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, etc.

The Dealio: Quick question: are you a Potter fan or not? If you are, then...you know the dealio. If you aren't: read the books, people. Read the books, then prepare to go on a cinemabiblio journey the likes of which you have not encountered in, well, 14 years. If for no other reason than the marvelous-ness of bringing kids- and their elders- back to reading- this entire journey would be worth the sadness of saying farewell. We knew it was coming. We knew the outcome of any battle to the end between the Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named. OK, maybe we didn't have all the grace notes. But, in our hearts, we knew. We have sat on the sidelines- though it often felt that we were actually part of the roster- as Harry and Co. grew, matured, assed-off the way teens will, and finally, finally, found themselves. It was a magnificent tour de force. Now that it is over, there are tears as well as cheers. But, mostly, there are generations caring. That has got to be worth something. And, to me, it definitely is.

The Grading Session: Overall: 4.791 pengies out of 5. HPATDHP2: 4.967 pengies out of 5. Many have said that strong story lines were deleted (agreed. But did we actually want a 6 hour movie, or a HPATDHP3?). But for sheer no-character-left-behind, this movie excels. The special effects were wondrous, scary, elegiac and beautifully executed. I do not truck with two things: dawdling service and 3 D, so this was seen in standard movie house fare-type 2D. And I did not miss a thing. And the wonderful lagniappe of the whole deal was that we got to catch up with the people in whom we had invested so much time and energy. How did they turn out? Well, like the books and the movies: wonderfully. Go see this movie. But, really? You haven;t read the books? My niece read the books before she was a preteen! You definitely owe it to yourself. Get thee to a library, bookstore, eReader or audio book. (I can not recommend the audios enough. Jim Dale rules- creating a library of distinct voices. You owe it to yourself!). But don't take my word for it...

Lessons Learned: There is simply no substitute for an engaging cast of characters, a wonderful, flowing story line and a tremendous commitment to follow-through. Oh, yeah, and this: Harry and crewe rock!