“It all ends here.”
Thus states the tagline for the next and final installment of Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. For many of us in our late teens and early 20s who have grown up with the Harry Potter story, however, this line rings especially true.
“I’m actually pretty hesitant to go see the last movie because I know as soon as the final credits are over, my childhood will have ended,” Vanderbilt U. junior Evan Lloyd said.
The final Potter film also marks the end of childhood for Harry, Ron and Hermione, forcing them to face darker themes than ever before. The film will premiere on July 15, and is rated PG-13 for “some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images,” according the the MPAA website.
“The all-out war between good and evil is thrilling, but there is still an emotional underpinning,” said director David Heyman in an interview with Warner Brothers Pictures Press. “And because we’ve been invested in these characters for so long, it feels there is much more at stake.”
In Deathly Hallows Part II, audiences will see Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry, Ron and Hermione, respectively, as well as the return of many other beloved characters from throughout the series.
“We were fantastically lucky because virtually the entire cast wanted to be part of the finale,” said producer David Barron. “Some of them are only briefly seen, but it was important to them, and to us, that they be there.”
Fans who are familiar with the books know that these appearances include characters such as Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) who met their untimely ends earlier in the series. Of course, the finale to the Potter saga also means that some of the beloved characters may not survive.
The final film of the series picks up where the last left off: Harry, Ron and Hermione must continue to destroy the remaining four Horcruxes in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all. In their quest, the trio face goblins and dragons in an epic heist at Gringott’s Bank, ending up back where the action all began: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The action takes the trio across the castle and through key areas from other films, from the Chamber of Secrets to the pivotal Room of Requirement and finally to an epic battle on the stairs of the school itself. Unfortunately, however, the nature of the final battle also meant that many of the sets, most importantly the Great Hall, were completely destroyed in the process.
“To see the grandeur of Hogwarts destroyed was very emotional,” Heyman said. “In a very graphic way, it really brought home the fact that we were rapidly moving toward the end of the journey.”
Even though Harry’s journey on film is ending, the story lives on for the many fans that followed his adventures from the beginning and grew up with the characters.
“Even though the series is ending, it never really will end,” said Vanderbilt junior Jessie Rodriguez. “For anyone who has been touched by the Boy Who Lived, the magic will always live on.”