Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the second of two cinematic parts based on the novel by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling. The story continues to follow Harry Potter's quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Principal photography began on 19 February 2009, and was completed on 12 June 2010, with reshoots taking place in December 2010, marking the series' closure of ten years of filming. Part 2 was released in 2D, 3-D and IMAX cinemas worldwide from 13–15 July 2011, and is the only Harry Potter film to be released in 3-D.
The film became a financial success and was one of the best-reviewed films of 2011. At the box office, Part 2 claimed the worldwide opening weekend record, earning $483.2 million, as well as setting opening day and opening weekend records in various countries. As of 2015, the film is the seventh highest grossing film of all time, the highest grossing film of 2011, the highest grossing film in the Harry Potter series and the ninth film to gross over $1 billion.
The Blu-ray and DVD sets were released on 11 November 2011 in the United States and on 2 December 2011 in the United Kingdom. The film was also released in the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection box set on DVD and Blu-ray, which included all eight films and new special features. Part 1 and Part 2 were released as a combo pack on DVD and Blu-ray on 11 November 2011 in Canada.
Plot
Lord Voldemort retrieves the powerful Elder Wand from Albus Dumbledore's grave. After burying Dobby, Harry Potter asks the help of goblin Griphook, Ron, and Hermione to break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts bank, suspecting a Horcrux may be there. Griphook agrees, in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. Wandmaker Ollivander tells Harry that two wands taken from Malfoy Manor belonged to Bellatrix and to Draco Malfoy, but Malfoy's has changed its allegiance to Harry.
In Bellatrix's vault, Harry discovers the Horcrux is Helga Hufflepuff's cup. He retrieves it, but Griphook snatches the sword of Godric Gryffindor and abandons the trio, leaving them cornered by security. The three release the dragon guardian and flee on its back. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort killing goblins, including Griphook, and learns Voldemort is aware of the theft. Harry also realises there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts somehow connected to Rowena Ravenclaw. The trio apparate into Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore instructs the portrait of his deceased younger sister, Ariana, to fetch Neville Longbottom, who leads the trio through a secret passageway into Hogwarts.
Snape hears of Harry's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding Harry. Harry confronts Snape, who flees after Minerva McGonagall challenges him to a duel. McGonagall gathers the Hogwarts community for battle. At Luna Lovegood's insistence, Harry speaks to Helena Ravenclaw's ghost, who reveals that Voldemort performed "dark magic" on her mother's diadem, which is in the Room of Requirement. In the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione destroys the Horcrux cup with a Basilisk fang. In the Room of Requirement, Draco, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle attack Harry, but Ron and Hermione intervene. Goyle casts a Fiendfyre curse and, unable to control it, is burned to death while Harry and his friends save Malfoy and Zabini. Harry stabs the diadem with the Basilisk fang and Ron kicks it into the Room of Requirement, where it is destroyed. As Voldemort's forces attack, Harry, seeing into Voldemort's mind, realises that Voldemort's snake Nagini is the final Horcrux. After entering the boathouse, the trio witness Voldemort telling Snape that the Elder Wand cannot serve Voldemort until Snape dies; he then orders Nagini to kill Snape. Before dying, Snape tells Harry to take his memories to the Pensieve. In the chaos at Hogwarts, Fred, Lupin, and Tonks have been killed.
Harry learns from Snape's memories that Snape loved Harry's late mother, Lily, but despised his father, James, who had bullied him. Following her death, Snape worked secretly with Dumbledore to protect Harry from Voldemort because of his genuine and deep feelings for Lily. Harry also learns Dumbledore's death at Snape's hands was planned between them, and that the Patronus doe he saw in the woods that led him to the sword had been conjured by Snape. Harry discovers he became a Horcrux when Voldemort originally failed to kill him and that Harry must die to destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul within him. Harry goes to die at the hands of Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse upon Harry, who finds himself in limbo, where Dumbledore's spirit meets him and explains that the part of Voldemort within Harry was killed by Voldemort's own curse. Harry returns to his body, determined to defeat Voldemort once and for all.
Voldemort announces Harry's apparent death to everyone at Hogwarts, and says anyone who defies him will be killed. As Neville gives a defiant response, Harry reveals he is very much alive. Neville draws the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, and as Harry confronts Voldemort in a duel throughout the castle, Neville decapitates Nagini, leaving Voldemort mortal. Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix in the Great Hall. The final stand of Harry and Voldemort's fight is Voldemort's own Killing Curse rebounding and obliterating him. After the battle, Harry explains to Ron and Hermione that the Elder Wand had recognized him as its true master because he had disarmed Draco, who earlier had disarmed its previous owner, Dumbledore. Harry snaps the Elder Wand, rejecting its power.
Nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny Potter, with Ron and Hermione Weasley, along with Draco and his wife, proudly watch their own children leaving for Hogwarts from King's Cross station.
Critical reception
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 received universal acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of 96% based on 305 reviews and an average score of 8.3/10. The site describes the film as "Thrilling, powerfully acted, and visually dazzling, Deathly Hallows Part II brings the Harry Potter franchise to a satisfying – and suitably magical – conclusion." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on individual reviews, the film achieved an average of 87 based on 41 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim". The film received a score of 93 from professional critics at th Broadcast Film Critics Association; it is the organisation's highest-rated Harry Potter film. Audiences surveyed by Cinemascore gave the film A grade on average.
Academy Award Nominations (2012)
- Best Art Direction - Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
- Best Makeup - Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
- Best Visual Effects - Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson