Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Column: The Word on Films | Date Published: Tuesday, 2 August 11 | Author: Megan McKeough | 1 year, 9 months ago

The wizarding world has arrived at its epic boss battle – and there will be kisses, deaths, surprises and mysteries. Don’t bother if you haven’t read the books, or if you haven’t seen Part 1. Here’s a summary of…

What they did right: Cutting down Ginny’s role was the best damn thing to happen to the franchise since Emma Watson got hot. Ginny is dull as dirt and her and Harry have as much sexual chemistry as two barramundi. Neville finally gets his (as well as the screen time he deserves), and Ron and Hermione share the kiss that makes Potter fans squeal the world over. The Snape storyline is handled surprisingly well, and who can’t enjoy McGonagall and Molly kicking butt.

What they did wrong: The 3D is pointless – all it does is make an already murky film look even darker. James Potter comes off as an insignificant wang; the epilogue scene is, as expected, completely laughable; and plot points are randomly changed for no good reason, or left dangling.

Overall, David Yates seems to be ticking boxes, without trying to achieve any true emotional depth or excitement. After a decade, the Harry Potter franchise is over – and it wasn’t a fizzle and yet it wasn’t a bang. I enjoyed and appreciated the final film, though it wasn’t as epic as I had always hoped.

	Bad Teacher: Bad Teacher isn’t bad in terms of quality, but nor is it good. And unfortunately, it’s not quite a bad as it wants to be. If you know what I mean. Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) is a bad role model turned teacher: she smokes, shows up hungover to class, and gets high in-between lessons. When her rich fiancé dumps her, she turns her attentions to the moneyed substitute teacher Scott (Justin Timberlake), but she has competition from the preternaturally perky teacher Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch). Plus, she must ward off the affections of the dry, deadpan gym teacher Russell (Jason Segel). Jason Segel is great as Jason Segel, as usual. Cameron Diaz has made a name for herself playing bright, sunny, sexy leads – but here she does bitter, cynical and sexy well. Justin Timberlake was surprisingly good in drama The Social Network, and here he shows he can also do comedy. He is by turns so dumb, so superficial, and so weirdly sexually repulsive that you can barely believe you are watching a former member of tween heartthrob group ‘N Sync on screen. Where the film fails is the script. The dialogue falls flat, and the jokes aren’t as outrageously bad as they want to be. Look, I’m not suggesting film school detention for director Jake Kasdan. But a little tutoring might not have gone astray.

	Captain America: The First Avenger : Captain America is all cheese. But it’s the best, guilty-pleasure kind of cheese. Watching Captain America is like sitting down to devour an entire wheel of camembert, and not even feeling bad about it. The last stand-alone film before the release of The Avengers (which will feature characters Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America), follows Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). After being deemed unfit for military duty during WWII due to his diminutive stature and general weakling-status, Steve volunteers for a dangerous experimental research project, that turns him into a super soldier: Captain America. As well as being pitted against the Nazis, the mad Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and his evil army Hydra, the Captain must also find time to win over the girl: Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell). Despite being cheesy, Captain America is also clever. The things that could have very easily made this film unbearable (overt patriotism, the convenience of having an unbeatable hero) are dealt with in a vaguely tongue-in-cheek manner, and used for laughs. There are great supporting performances throughout (from Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, and Staley Tucci in particular), and fans will enjoy the frequent references to the other Avengers characters (Thor’s extended family of gods gets a mention, as does Iron Man/Tony Stark’s father, Howard Stark). There’s much more to enjoy besides: Captain America is fun, fast-paced and flashy. Everything an Avengers film should be.