I like Matrix Reloaded despite all of its flaws, but one thing I always disliked was the awful cliffhanger ending. It made the film feel entirely incomplete and I’m not sure if it was the fact I knew Matrix Revolutions was just around the corner or what exactly, but the idea of a cliffhanger ending to a movie is a rather cheap trick leaving the audience with an unfulfilled movie experience. So, when I read a new article at Empire magazine in which Daniel Radcliffe says the split breaking up part one and part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is “at a very tense cliffhanger” I don’t exactly know what to think about that especially since we have pretty much the exact same situation we had with the final two parts in the Matrix trilogy.
Harry Potter franchise producer David Heyman added some words saying, “We’ve played around with a couple of places and ultimately settled on a place that we think is very exciting, and I think quite bold, in that it’s not necessarily where one might expect. You want to give a sense of completion, on one hand, but a sense that there’s another piece, more to come. We tried one and then Steve (Kloves, screenwriter) came up with the idea to try it another way and when we tried that, it felt just right.”
I hope Heyman’s statement saying the wanted to give a “sense of completion” isn’t too far off base because I think that’s very important. As much as the split on Deathly Hallows seems like a money grab, I am interested in seeing how they handle what will pretty much be the first Harry Potter film adaptation that can really be explored in its entirety without the complications of running time.
Where they will split it I have no idea. I read the book, but don’t remember it well enough to think of a great spot.
As for the recent news revealed to MTV saying the epilogue at the end of Rowling’s “Deathly Hallows” will be included and CG will be used to age the current actors Daniel Radcliffe had this to add:
I am nervous about that because if it’s good I’ll be really, really pleased; if it’s not good and that’s what people are left with, that would be awful. If it’s a choice between having me, Rupert and Emma looking a bit stupid and it being slightly comical or having other actors play us, I would go for other actors every time. So, we’ll see.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I hits theaters on November 19, 2010 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II follows on July 15, 2011.
