- 9
...an outstanding capper to the most lucrative film franchise of all time.
—Todd McCarthy Hollywood Reporter
- 9
The thrilling conclusion to a phenomenal cinematic story 10 years in the telling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ? Part 2 is proof that authentic movie excitement is its own form of magic.
—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly
- 9
...everything a summer blockbuster should be but rarely is-- a whip-smart, slam-bang piece of entertainment where we deeply care about the fate of the central characters (and many subsidiary ones who return for their last bows).
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 9
...a magnificent finale for this fantasy opus, one that pays ample justice to Harry's long-in-the-making showdown with He Who Must Not Be Named, a battle in which life and death, the past and the future, precariously hang in the balance.
—Nick Schager Village Voice
- 9
...turns out to be more than the last of its kind. Almost magically, it ends up being one of the best of the series as well.
—Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
- 9
...a grave, deeply satisfying final movie...
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 9
...brings narrative and emotional closure by finally delivering the grand confrontation all the previous films were building toward.
—L. Thompson E!
- 9
...a magnificent finale for this fantasy opus, one that pays ample justice to Harry's long-in-the-making showdown with He Who Must Not Be Named, a battle in which life and death, the past and the future, precariously hang in the balance.
—Nick Schager LA Weekly
- 8
As the director himself has evolved from an efficient and vaguely stylish, yet unsure, functionary into the greatest director of blockbuster cinema since Steven Spielberg, the sense of unhurried, supple balance rarely departs from even the busiest, most deafening, most f/x-laden sequences.
—Jaime N. Christley Slant Magazine
- 8
Director Yates does not offer the sort of dark panache Alfonso Cuaron brought to number three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, my favorite of the eight. But his touch is honorable and handsome and meticulous...
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 8
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 puts a triumphant capper on a decade of Pottermania.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 8
...the most epic of the Harry Potter movies, the one that finally dispenses with side-quests and open-ended plotlines and offers up all the final payoffs.
—Tasha Robinson Onion AV Club
- 8
...conjures up enough awe and solemnity to serve as an appropriate finale and a dramatic contrast to the lighthearted (relative) innocence of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all those magical years ago.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 8
...after ten years, eight films, and close to 20 hours of engaging storytelling, Harry Potter's cinematic saga is finally complete -- and the last act is just as compelling, if not more so, than the first.
—Bill Gibron filmcritic.com
- 8
The best has been saved for the last.
—Claudia Puig USA Today
- 8
It is not often that we can chart a series over 10 years featuring the same child stars as they grow into adults. This phenomenon gives Deathly Hallows 2 a particular poignancy, since audiences will likely look at these young actors and see themselves growing old as well.
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 8
Grim, beautiful and unabashedly emotional, this is nearly as satisfying an end to the saga as a fan could wish for...
—Alynda Wheat People
- 7
So ends this enormously important, and enormously extended, chapter of pop culture, with a combination of bang and whimper.
—Andrew O'Hehir Salon
- 6
...surges ahead with tremendous urgency, superb spectacle and powerful, even overwhelming emotion, only to falter with a hasty sendoff that seems to buckle under the weight of audience expectations.
—Justin Chang Variety