The Harry Potter Conclusion

...and so it concludes. After a journey that started with the release of the first book in 1997 and ended with the final film in 2011, Harry Potter goes down as a large empire in the world of entertainment. This is totally true and I'm saying this as a non-enthusiast who didn't watch a single Harry Potter film until 2009 or read a single Harry Potter book until this May. It ended with the second part of "The Deathly Hallows," which concludes what J.K. Rowling started fourteen years back.

I attended the first available matinee, just the way I like to enjoy my movies. The plot, like the final book, is that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are looking for the horcruxes in order to destroy and weaken Voldemort. It turns out there to much more to the situation between Harry and his interaction from Voldemort as a baby than we believe. Just like the books, we learn more and more about Harry Potter and the powers that he has. The series ends with supporting characters dying off (in which I will not name, because then I would be giving you a spoiler) and an epilogue that certainly gets your attention. I will admit that I did... not cry at the end, but then again, there are very few films, books, and anything else in the entertainment industry that has that effect on me. Even so, a tragic ending feels more like a punch in the gut, as a simply emotional ending makes you simply feel a bit choked up.

Honestly, I think that this final film was the best in the series, especially as a film in itself. It was not completely faithful to how the book went in ways that it added things to give the movie flavor and took parts out in exchange for bigger and better things. However, I must say that this is the rare instance in which I felt the film outdid the book. What I wanted to see was more connections throughout, especially how Ron and Hermione connect from midway through the book to the end of the book. While I felt the final book was a good end to the series, I also felt it fell victim to the Swiss cheese effect, which means there were several holes in the plot and how one part led to another. The movie, on the other hand, did not fall to that effect. The one thing I questioned after reading the book was the battle between Harry and Voldemort. I felt the battle was extremely short in the book, but the movie gives an intense battle that is visually stunning. Speaking of visually stunning, when the gang breaks into Gringott's Bank in the beginning, they feature a ride that feels like riding a roller coaster at an amusement park.

Now that the Harry Potter series is over, the enthusiasts will be setting up Pottermore accounts when J.K. Rowling releases this next project of hers. As for me, I will see it as a landmark in the world of literature and cinema, and continue my quest to finding the best books out there. I'm looking at the Millennium Trilogy at the moment we speak, so we'll have to see how reading that up and coming phenomenon goes. As for Harry Potter, it was a series that made for some good entertainment. I'm not a lover, but I liked it.