Last night I saw an early screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.  The streak is broken.  I cried.  I hate admitting that, but it’s true.  I know everyone has something to say about the end of this series, but I’m going to have to weigh in here.  Harry needs to know what a big deal this is for me.  No, I’m not crazy.  Doesn’t he feel a little real to you too?

Dear Harry,

I’m really not alright with this parting of the ways.  I’ll never be alright with it.  You’ve been a part of my life for so many years now.  I might have been too old to wait for an owl when I turned eleven like so many of my friends, but believe me, I would have.

Your story struck me for so many reasons.  I never got over that little spark of hope that there really was magic in the world, even if we couldn’t see it.  That maybe, if I just opened my eyes a little wider, I’d see something amazing.

I think every little kid (and quite a few adults) hoped that someone would swoop down and pull them out of their misery/everyday life/ordinary existence and tell them that they were special.  That all the crap they went through (and would continue to go through) meant something.  In the absence of a real half giant on a motorcycle coming to swoop us up and away to Hogwarts, we lived vicariously through you.

Second 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows' Trailer

What meant even more was that it never really did work out as planned.  It wasn’t just the sweet story from the first book/film.  I mean, your parents died saving you, but in the end, it all could have been a magical beginning to a lovely, quiet life of magical cooking and traveling through the Floo network instead of being stuck in traffic.  But no one pulls punches in real life and no one did here either.  Your story got darker and darker.  Your life got harder and more complex.  The villains were real and people you loved died.  Now, after living through your discovery that there was more to life than you knew as a little kid, we live through your discovery of mortality and pain, and what it’s like to grow up.  In a very magical and dramatic way, of course, but if you think about it, how different was it?  We all go through wonder, then disillusionment.  We just saw it amplified up on the big screen.

In a way, I think that’s why stories like yours are so well loved.  Everyone has to be built up and cut down and then build themselves back up again to move forward in life.  But to each person, it feels far more dramatic and painful…and sometimes joyful than it looks to the outside world.  Inside everyone’s head, they’re saying, ”What I just went through…yes, I know you’ve dealt with it to, but LOOK!  It’s huge for me.  Don’t you get it?”  So when we get to see you battle evil for a real cause and fall in love and lose people so dramatically, so magically, we are looking at our own battles.  You’re living them as loudly as we feel them.  Do you know what I mean?

Last night, when I watched the epilogue play out on the silver screen, it really hit home.  Seeing those who survived move on and age and realize they’ll never be as innocent as the first day they boarded the train to Hogwarts at platform 9 3/4 was like the day I visited my old elementary school.  The chairs looked so small.  The teachers so old.  There was such a sweet sadness there.  It’s a time that can never be captured again.  I think that’s why I finally shed tears at a film.  Because the phenomenon that was Harry Potter is over.  I’ll never discover the next chapter.  Your story has been told.  I’ll never hear the haunting notes of the score begin another leg of your journey.  I’ll never get to say, ”I can’t wait to see how they do that,” or hear the binding crack as I open a new book, or sit back in my theater seat and repeatedly tap my husband’s arm, unable to contain my excitement about what was about to be shown on screen.

I feel a little older today, Harry.  And a little sadder.  I’ll miss you.  Tell Ginny I said hi.

Love,

Jenna

Still looking for the final horcruxes, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) return to Hogwarts. The school defends itself against the final attack of Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) while Harry searches for the last piece of his backstory that will reveal how to finally kill his nemesis.

Second 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows' Trailer

The siege of Hogwarts gives Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II real momentum. The forces of evil wizards keep progressing closer as the students fortify themselves. This film’s flying broom chase is more thrilling than any game of Quidditch before. There’s some stellar dragon action too, and it’s hardcore. He fries some goblins.

The character moments are effective too. Snape’s (Alan Rickman) final action, Professor McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) defense of the students, Harry’s final face-off against Draco (Tom Felton) all have serious dramatic weight. The kisses feel genuinely romantic, although a few supporting characters who I didn’t know get killed. That will upset the true fans more than me.

2 photosNew 'Harry Potter' Stills Feature Impressive Chair Fort

I still zone out when Dumbledore’s brother (Ciaran Hinds) starts explaining but that’s minimal in the finale. It’s almost a good thing to have a lousy Deathly Hallows Part I to get all the explaining out of the way, and leave all the good parts for kick-ass Part II.

The visual effects seem to be at their peak. Maybe the 3D hides the seams, but the stone guards, the light blasts attacking the Hogwarts shield and the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw (Kelly Macdonald) all look fully ingrained in the scene and believable.

The epilogue totally works. It’s heartwarming, and the age makeup is so minimal it looks more like kids pretending, which fits the denouement of the child wizard franchise. I can’t wait to have kids and show them all eight movies. They’ll ask me questions and I’ll be like, “I don’t know, you’re watching the same movie as me.” I’ll show them Labyrinth and Neverending Story first, but then the eight Harry Potters.

5 photosNew Clip And Photos From ‘Deathly Hallows Pt. 2: The One Where Something Finally Happens’

These 11 action-packed posters feature everyone from Harry Potter, Hermoine and Ron to Voldemort, Snape and Trolly McEarguy. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Ralph Fiennes are all back for this final, magical battle between good and evil. It’s time to get really, really serious about a bunch of kids who fly around on brooms and have silly names.

Potter and pals poof into 3D and 2D theaters July 15, 2011.

Directed by David Yates, it’s the last time Daniel Radcliffe plays Potter before going off and making less interesting movies. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are back as Potter’s posse of Hermione Granger and Ron “Bonghead” Weasely, along with Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter.

Judging by the trailer, this could be the darkest, most explodiest of the Potter movies. Oh man, a lot of Harry Potter’s friends have been killed at this point, and Voldemort is not afraid to push that button. On the other hand, Harry Potter isn’t afraid of a little cliff-diving, so I guess good and evil really do balance each other out.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 rides into theaters on a Quidditch-regulation broomstick on July 15, 2011.

Rupert Grint (a.k.a. Ron Weasley): putting the “Pot” in Harry Potter?

I’ve never been a huge Harry Potter fan. Nothing in the books or movies seems as creative to me as Labyrinth or The Neverending Story. Prisoner of Azkaban was a good movie and Goblet of Fire had the magic tournament. Usually as long as there’s enough to look at, I can get by. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 is the worst of all the Harry Potter movies. This is the most bored I’ve been watching one.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) go on the run because Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is sending dark smoke clouds after them. Well, after Harry. Teleporting between London and various forests, their relationships get strained and they learn more about the backstory between Harry and Voldemort.

At this point, the mythology has gotten so dense that there’s really no room for a casual viewer. That means it’ll be great for the die hards. You guys probably had to wait around while the other movies caught all us laymen up. Now you can just dive hardcore into the horcruxes and Sword of Gryffindor.

There are still some pretty scenes to look at, but I have no idea what was going on in this film. Harry has to find the sword to destroy all the horcruxes. That’s about all I picked up. The trio goes to different characters to find more information. They encounter some new characters who cause trouble. I don’t know what they were talking about with any of them.

The deluminator is a cool idea. Ron uses that once or twice. The cloned Harrys look good. There’s action but no excitement. A freeway chase is just a collection of effects. A wand battle in a diner is sort of like a gunfight, and Hermione is the Chow Yun-Fat role, but it’s short. It doesn’t take long to cast a spell against someone.

Now there’s lots of handheld camera, so even the Harry Potter series copied that. It still looks like the Harry Potter world with overcast light and a foresty color scheme, even without the Hogwarts castle. You do get to see some of the old characters again, like Wormtail (Timothy Spall) and Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) so there’s a throwback.

It’s still a LOT of talking though. The film opens with Voldemort’s sinister council talking about their plans. It’s a long exposition scene. A character’s death isn’t even shown. It’s only spoken about, since presumably Harry didn’t witness it. That may be the script consolidating the story, but it seems like something I remember reading in the earlier Rowling books. She talks about things instead of showing them. The movies just represent that.

Ron’s frustrations sort of represent me. He gives voice to the repetitive nature of the series, but it barely affects the story. It’s like Rowling knows she’s supposed to include themes of jealousy, insecurity and betrayal, but she doesn’t do anything with them. It’s just now he’s mad, and then they talk about it, and then they talk about something else.

Maybe it’s just not cute anymore because they’re so grown up, or maybe the plot has finally collapsed on the story. I’m certainly not going to read any more of them (I stopped after Goblet of Fire) but maybe someone who did read them can explain it to me. And I’m sure you won’t hold back.

I know, I know, more Harry Potter stuff, but it’s always trending and Daddy needs pageviews. Today I have for you a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows featurette that looks back at young, impressionable Harry and forward at mature, constantly yelling Harry. The raising of his voice means he’s no longer taking sh*t from anyone. I’m also certain that wand is a metaphor for his penis, or something.

Anyhoos, I’m glad the series continues to get darker as it progresses. Tis a shame it’s all coming to an end next year, though. And if you think you’re sad, take a moment to consider the Warner Bros. execs. Harry Potter raked in a bona fide billion dollars annually. Batman only keeps that water tower half-full.

Go behind the scenes after the jump…