So, it had to come to an end at some point. Most people reading this will know right away what I mean. Last night, I watched the second half of the final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Although I loved the entire series more than any working aged adult should have, I was glad to see it end. Not so much in the fact that I wanted it to end, but because I am addicted to a resolution in movies. I love a cliffhanger as much as anyone, but let’s be real here, I’m impatient.
I think the series, both book and movie, have set a historical precedence. The real magic that was worked with this series wasn’t Harry learning a Potronus charm. Think about how well planned out the entire book/movie series was. The first book was written in 1999, the first movie released in 2001. With that small gap between book and movie, Rowling was able to finish the book series quickly enough to keep the movies releasing every 1 to 2 years.
That may not seem all that fantastic at first glance, but the timing was critical. The movie starred the same cast (minus a Dumbledore change due to an unfortunate loss of the first one) for all 8 movies. That in itself is a miracle, but that constant cast was the biggest reason for the timing. The cast, mainly the kids, had to be about the age of the kids in the books. So a long delay would have caused a lot of problems. Imagine Harry looking 25 when he was supposed to be taking his OWLs.
A side effect of the movies releasing like they did was that kids literally grew up with the films. Some of the young adults watching the movie this past weekend were 8 or 9 when the whole movie series started. For over half their life, they have been submerged in Hogwarts lore. I am willing to bet they couldn’t imagine the world without it. I wonder how many people can remember when they first heard about the series.
All that being said, there are some things I don’t like about the ending of the series. One thing that bothers me is that there’s nothing to look forward to with the series now. When the other movies ended, you had that excitement in you that you couldn’t wait to see how the next one would turn out. With no new films to look forward to, there is a small void now. You can watch your “Potter-athons” all you want, but once the last DVD is released, it’s over for good.
Another thing that sucks about the series ending is that you wonder what the actors will move on to. We have seen them as children for 10 years now and taking them seriously in any other roles might prove too difficult. Imagine Harry or Hermione in any other role where you don’t instantly say “that’s Harry Potter” or ”you know, the new movie Harry Potter is in.” Most people don’t even know his name is Daniel Radcliffe. Hopefully, he won’t be typecast and will be able to transcend this one role.
I don’t have the energy to get into the coincidental similarities between the HP series and Lord of the Rings, but trust me there are a lot of them. All things being equal though, I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. I loved getting all wrapped up in the epic battle of good kid versus undead bad guy.
I could complain that I would have loved to have seen a lot more magic in the movies, but they did start to pick up towards the end of the series. Either way, the series is over, and now it is time to look for a new addiction to fill that void. I guess “Potter-athons” will have to do until the last one is released on DVD. After that, who knows what will happen.
