Geek Life Awards 2011: Movie of the Year Winner
2011 was a fantastic year for movies. Comic book heroes like Captain America, the “first class” of X-Men and Thor came to life on the silver screen, oprhans like Hugo touched our hearts, detectives like Tintin thrilled the adventurer in us, guys in scorpion jackets drove (kind of), and even the chick flicks like The Help weren’t unbearable. In the end, however, there can only be one Geek Life’s Movie of the Year 2011, and that movie is…
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
With all of the pretty boring and slow-paced parts shoved into the first half of Part 1, Deathly Hallows Part 2 only had room for non-stop adventure and suspense. Part 1 may have only made #5 in Dan’s “7 Greatest Harry Potter Movies of All Time” list (which was well before 8 came out), but I would wager that if Dan were to revisit that list, Deathly Hallows Part 2 might make it to the #1 spot.
Just like with the books themselves, the Harry Potter movies have grown over the years, becoming darker and more adult. Deathly Hallows (both parts) are about as removed from Chris Columbus’ take on The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets as one can possibly get.
When we whittle Deathly Hallows Part 2 down to its core, it’s about the final showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, but there is so much more going on in this film. For those of you who have enjoyed the movies but never read the books, it might be interesting for you to know that the prophecy that spoke about a boy born in the summer and rising up to defeat the dark lord could have been about Harry Potter… or it could have been about Neville Longbottom; so, to see Neville rise to such heights of badassery in this movie was an absolute delight. I am also highly amused that David Yates also apparently ships Neville/Luna, but I digress.
Plenty of other characters had their moments. I recall the audience cheering when Ron and Hermione finally kissed — both times that I saw this movie in the theatre — as well as when Molly Weasley took on Bellatrix Lestrange. Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione disguised as Bellatrix was a delight. There are so many key moments in this movie that I could go on and on; it was just that good.
The character that stole Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 away from Harry Potter, however, was Severus Snape. While the movie is filled with veteran actors such as Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, and Michael Gambon — whose performances were all amazing — Alan Rickman’s performance trumped everyone’s to the point that, for several weeks after the movie was released, Tumblr was flooded with “Alan Rickman for every award ever” type posts. I myself have told Dan on numerous occasions when discussing this film that Alan Rickman should win Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Musical Score, and Best Alan Rickman — at the very least.
Rickman’s Snape made a disgusting and deplorable character that, even with the revelations of both his love for Lily and his motivations for his actions, I didn’t like, care for, or sympathize with in the books come to life in a strikingly human way. When I watched Deathly Hallows Part 2, I found myself sobbing for Snape, for his love, his devotion, his faithfulness, his good heart and his redemption. That’s how amazing Alan Rickman was in this film.
I could spend hours talking about this film, but in the end, what makes this the movie of the year, in a nutshell, is an amazing story of good versus evil, fantastic characters that have developed and grown over the years, and a stellar cast filled with amazing actors and actresses.
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