Monday, July 18, 2011

Just Another Magic Monday: A Harry Potter Film Review Plus A Sendup To Severus Snape

.:Just Another Magic Monday: Film Review - Harry Potter 7.2!:.


Poster fail.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part II
A fitting conclusion.

If you are anything like me, then you were eagerly anticipating the conclusion of the Harry Potter films, and eagerly eyed every single trailer or teaser coming your way.

I have copies of all seven books, and watched every single movie in the cinemas. I may not be a crazed fan, but I'd count myself as pretty hardcore when it comes down to it, even if I have never bothered wearing a costume to the theaters or something.

Having said that, I had rather high expectations for the eighth installment of the film franchise, and let's just get this out of the way: far as I'm concerned, the movie delivered splendidly.

And now, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Picking up from where the first half of the adaptation of the seventh book left off, Deathly Hallows Part 2 focuses on the destruction of the last remaining horcruxes, setting the stage for the final, decisive clash between Harry and Voldemort. While admittedly, the re-imagining of the film diminished the importance of Neville Longbottom's role as opposed to the book, this worked out just fine thanks to Daniel Radcliffe's strong performance in the lead role.

You want eye candy and special effects? You were going to get a lot of that here. You wanted some loose ends from previous installments tied up? You get that here, too. Overall, it was a very awesome romp for Potter fans who wanted to see a splendid way to cap off the entire saga.

What can I say about this film that hasn't been already said? Everyone's been raving about it. If you liked Harry Potter, there was little to no way for you to not like this film, as everyone just brought their A-game and made sure that this was truly the way to end the series.

So I guess that's why I'd rather focus on Snape for a moment here.

Among all the characters in the Potterverse, Severus Snape really rang true to me, mostly because I could relate to him very strongly. True, I have a soft spot for Luna Lovegood, as do I for Cho Chang, but I certainly don't feel any common ground with them, as I would with Professor Snape.

Snape was the epitome of the tragic, misunderstood hero. He was flawed, and yet his flaws only emphasized his true strength of character, as punctuated by his indefatigable ability to love: to love someone even when it would forever only remain an unrequited hope.

Not everybody liked Snape. In fact, it's hard to blame the people who disliked him immensely because of the way he acts. It's unquestionable that he has his preconceived biases to work with, but what sets him apart is his ability to move beyond these biases to do what he must, to do what he ought to, because he is driven by love.

And it's this ability to love in the face of everything else that draws me so strongly to Snape as a character. That Hans Gruber himself plays the role to perfection is just icing on the cake, and the very multi-dimensional personality of one Severus Snape is well-complemented by his single-minded devotion to Lily Potter, even if people called him all sorts of names while he just did what he knew to do best - to love.

He was a tragic figure, because he was like the greatest hero nobody must know about. At the risk of life and limb, he honored a promise made to Dumbledore for the sake of his love, and even when the object of his affection has passed on, the love still remained. The torch still burned. And with it, his devotion only proved to be all the more admirable. That he ended up caring about Harry in his own, misunderstood way only underscores how a man, despite all the odds, despite all the bad influence in the world, could still choose to do what is right because that power is within him. It's within everyone.

Magic is about many things to many different people. But to me, magic is about breaking beyond possibilities, and making of yourself far more than anyone could expect of you. Magic happens when you recognize that power within you. That power to do what appears impossible to everyone else.

With the end of his tale, all I know is that Snape's death was truly a hero's death. Perhaps only Dumbledore truly understood what it felt like to be in Severus's shoes, but so many others who have seen or read the Potter stories certainly can relate to the pathos of perhaps the best-fleshed character in the entirety of the Potterverse.


But EVERYONE envies the hair.

"Fun" Analysis: A+
"Critical" Analysis: A+

3 comments:

Roch said...

LOLz!! tama ba naman yan sioti the caption in our pic is "poster fail?" hahaha!

Prudence said...

Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape are the most interesting characters in the Harry Potter series, hands down. Multi-faceted and not merely stereotyped.

Kel Fabie said...

@Roch: It's because of Trinoma's digital posters! Not because of our (good) looks! LOL.

@Prudence: I totally agree. And it's amazing to note that Albus is gay, but by neglecting to mention it, JK Rowling made sure that the focus on Albus would go beyond his sexuality.