Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

*WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!*

After ten years, the end of the Harry Potter saga has finally come to an end. It is one of the most anticipated summer blockbuster movies of 2011 and it is just as insanely popular when the book was released at our local bookstores. The result is just as exciting as you’d expect a movie finale.

The story continues as Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue to destroy Voldemort’s last remaining Horcruxes (each individual item Voldemort has put his soul to make himself immortal). Meanwhile, Hogwarts is under the control of Death-Eaters and Dementors. The story is just continues straight from Part 1 and you can really feel Harry’s struggle to destroy the last remaining Horcruxes. Even showing Voldemort slowly, and eventually, growing more vulnerable as the story progresses. For those who have read the books, it won’t come to any surprise with the few twists here and there (i.e. Ciarán Hinds as Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth Dumbledore). A lot is at stake and director David Yates really dwells on that very well! The only problem I have is the time duration; Part 1 was 2 hours and 26 minutes, this film is only 2 hours 10 minutes long. It feels a lot shorter than it says, when it honestly should have been a lot longer to really show the epic story and scale of the production.

The performances from the three main leads are nothing to write about but they have improved over the years during the film series run. The film features an amazing British ensemble cast; Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Julie Walters and even David Yates collaborator Kelly Macdonald (State of Play mini-series and The Girl in the Café) gets an appearance as Helena Ravenclaw. As much it is fantastic to see such huge names in a film like Harry Potter, the time duration comes to affect and limits their screen-time. Fiennes, however, does show he is having a lot of fun playing Voldemort but also shows a twisted charismatic presence you don’t get a lot from villains nowadays.

The production value is top-notch, you can see a lot of effort and care has been put on this epic finale. The sets look fantastic, the visual effects look dazzling and the orchestral score (by Alexandre Desplat) really brings the emotional core to the story and overall film. The final battle between Harry and Voldemort is rather intense but it all feels rushed and quite lacking compared to other epics (The Lord of the Rings). Though Warner Bros. doesn’t pull any stops and really does deliver quite an event.

Overall; it is the film Harry Potter fans want from a finale and it is the best in the series. Not quite as the big bang it was anticipating but still has enough to keep you satisfied through-out. You can’t deny the Harry Potter film series will have Hollywood keep its eye on British filmmaking and finding talent overseas. An immensely well made production, strongly recommended.

4 out of 5

Daniel Craig is very 'happy' following marriage

Daniel Craig is “very happy” after getting married.

The actor’s friend Jason Isaacs believes the 43-year-old star – who tied the knot with actress Rachel Weisz in a surprise low-key ceremony last month – is the perfect choice to play James Bond because he “exudes sex”, though his personal life is now much tamer than that of the iconic British spy.

Asked if he would like to be James Bond, Jason said: “No, Dan is Bond – Daniel is one of the sexiest men!

“The thing about Dan is women all obviously want to sleep with him and men all think he’s having more relationships with women than they are – and they’re right! But not anymore, thank God, because he’s married and very happy but he just exudes sex. He’s the perfect Bond.”

Jason portrays Death Eater Lucius Malfoy in the ‘Harry Potter’ movie franchise and admits he is “heartbroken” to see the series come to an end with the release of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’.

Speaking on UK TV show ‘Daybreak’, he said: “I haven’t had enough, I would do it forever. I’m completely heartbroken by it being over, I can’t pretend.

“The good thing is they kept the quality of them … but this is one story essentially that we managed to tell over a decade, and there’s not a weak bit in it which is fantastic.”

Daniel Radcliffe is a 'nerdy' sex symbol

Daniel Radcliffe is “short and nerdy”.

The 21-year-old actor – best known for playing the titular boy wizard in the ‘Harry Potter’ movie series – admits he used to want to be regarded as a sex symbol, but appreciates he is not conventionally attractive.

He said: “There was a time when I wanted to be that guy who’s sexy and cool and all that stuff.

“If people find me sexy or cool, it’s because they like short little nerdy guys. And we do have our niche.”

Daniel also admitted he doesn’t think his fans view him in the same was as ‘Twilight’ devotees do Robert Pattinson because they have seen him grow up on screen.

He explained to the British edition of GQ magazine: “There’s more of a sexual energy behind ‘Twilight’ fans. Because people have mostly grown up with me, they tend to think of me as an older brother kind of figure. Whereas I think Rob is the sex symbol. And also, I guess, he’s out there more than I am, going to parties and things.

“I think everyone goes to more parties than me, so it’s not really a big competition.”

The 21-year-old British star is currently dating an unnamed member of the ‘Harry Potter’ team and says he is attracted to her because she is “cool and sane”.

He said: “It was one of those things where we were both in relationships and I broke up with my previous girlfriend and I was suddenly like, ‘Oh, I quite fancy you and I never even noticed that before.’

“She’s just really, really cool and lovely and sane – which is what I’m after.”

Emma Watson Hysterical At Harry Potter Ending.

Emma Watson “cried” uncontrollably when finished filming the last ‘Harry Potter’ film.

The actress – who was just 10 when she first played Hermione Granger in the wizard franchise – couldn’t control her emotions when she had to hang up her Hogwarts outfit for the last time when shooting on ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’ wrapped.

Speaking on UK TV show ‘Daybreak’, she said: “It was so strange … I kind of felt quite numb, I couldn’t really – it doesn’t seem like your feeling anything. And it was when they said, ‘That’s Emma down and Rupert wrapped,’ on ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, and it just hit me and it was incredibly emotional obviously.

“I cried, cried, cried, cried, cried – it was really emotional and overwhelming.”

Although she is sad the ‘Harry Potter’ movies have come to an end, Emma, now 21, is looking forward to taking on new roles – as long as they don’t require so many years of her life.

She said: “I mean it’s so funny, when I’ve signed on for other projects, other things, people don’t really understand why I get quite jumpy and quite concerned and I think it’s because I’ve signed on for one thing and it turns into a 12-year project. And I realise that everything else won’t be like that, but I just can’t believe what it turned into.”

Emma – who starred in the movies alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint – will always be proud to have portrayed witch Hermione and isn’t worried about being typecast in the future.

She said: “If I’m going to be associated with anything, I’m so thrilled that it would be her and it would be this.”

BLAKE'S NOT LIVELY – SHE'S AN OLD FOGEY; FIRST LOOK AT 'APES' PICS; PLUS DANIEL RADCLIFFE DOES HATE

First Look! – Pictures from Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Total Film takes a look at the first pictures from Rise of the Planet of the Apes which opens later this summer. Andy Serkis plays chief chimp Caesar, created through motion-capture and CGI.

Director Rupert Wyatt explains, “We had a choice of using either live apes or CGI. Personally, I had moral problems with the idea of using chimps. And from a practical point of view it would be virtually impossible to get them to do what we need them to do within our schedule.”

Blake’s not Lively – she’s an old fogey?

When Total Film sat down for a chat with Blake about her latest film The Green Lantern, the Gossip Girl admitted “I very much think of myself as an old fogey.”

Responding to jibes from Green Lantern director Martin Campbell that she was “going on 60”, Blake confessed, “I don’t party, I don’t go out and I’m sure one day I’ll really regret not tapping in and really living it up and exploring all the frivolities of youth.”

Speaking about her transformation from blonde to brunette for her portrayal of the comic book’s character Carol Ferris, she added, “I do want to make the fans happy. In the end we did a test and I tried 14 different shades of brown because we wanted to have the exact right colour. It was elaborate.”

Daniel Radcliffe speaks exclusively to Total Film: “I just hated my performance”

Speaking exclusively to Total Film in the issue out now about the final installment, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Radcliffe revealed that he hated his performance in the 2009 film, The Half-Blood Prince.

“The Half-Blood Prince wasn’t my favourite installment overall. I just hated my performance. The film was good, but it’s a huge amount of exposition.”

“READ THE FULL STORY IN TOTAL FILM – OUT NOW”