Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

The end of a series of eight films. The previous film was cut in the middle. This one carries straight on from there: a grave, a wand and a plan. The three are looking for the remaining pieces. A bank vault, a dragon, and then the return to the school. From there the film takes place almost entirely over one night. Hogwarts prepares to defend itself, the students are evacuated, and the castle is besieged. What the narrative is interested in is not magic but settling accounts: the best part is not the battle but a sequence of memories in the middle, in which one character's whole story is rewritten. The Snape line is the longest setup across eight films and it pays off here. The battle scenes are crowded and dark; the narrative shows most of the losses after the fact rather than on screen. What Neville is given is one of the best decisions in the film. The eight films were shot across a decade and the same three actors stayed in the same parts from childhood into adulthood; continuity at that scale is rare in cinema. The last book was split into two films. The decision was criticised as commercial, but it allowed the final part to be given over to the battle. It became the highest-grossing film of the series worldwide. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Matthew Lewis are in the cast. David Yates directed. Who it is for: anyone who has watched the series. Who it is not for: anyone starting here; the film explains nothing and assumes seven films of knowledge.