HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Part 2

Directed by: David Yates
Run time: 130 min

So this is it; the final chapter (or a very long encore) of the last chapter of Harry Potter saga. After 10 years accompanying Muggles and alike, the journey has come to an end. As for the viewers who haven't read the book or watch the first movie, they should have watch the Part 1 first (and read my review on it here if you click the link; shameless promotion always get me somewhere) since this film spends no time in flashbacks and start directly after the funeral of Dobby. As for me, I have read the seventh book so I will not be disturbed by spoilers, and I am not the one who like to spoil the ending here.

Leaving the character development on Part 1, Part 2 spends more time on action and tied up loose ends, giving a proper send off for the billion dollar franchise that started in 2001 and a sort of 'reunion' for past actors and actresses that have acted on the saga.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) now must locate and destroy the remaining three horcruxes in order to defeat the dark wizard Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), whose power grow and threatens the magical society.

Meanwhile, having discovered the elder wand as the ultimate wand for power, he seek Harry in a hurry (it rhymes!) and in the ultimate battle in Hogwarts the only way to solve it is to fight face to face.

As for other characters, Snape (Alan Rickman), is the star of this film, stealing enough screen time with Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis)

In terms of acting, Alan Rickman shines. It is not a surprise since he is a good actor and I like him as Hans Gruber in Die Hard. As for Daniel Radcliffe he is just wooden, and sorry, although he did it well but he doesn't shine that much here.

Non fans might complain that the film is too fast and leaves no character development while trying to recollect their last memory of the first part. Die hard fans might point out details that they don't think represent their wishes after they read the book several time but one thing for sure, Harry Potter has given us the magic inside the cinema, uniting moviegoers at a singular experience.

Few months later, after the blu-ray/DVD for this film has released, the fans of the saga will enjoy a full and thorough experience of all the eight movies in one nineteen hours long chunk. Spans of movie marathon event will be held and it will be cherished for many years to come, that is if there are no re-boot at all.

The backdrop of the release of this film is the so called tax standoff between the government and film importers which leave Indonesian moviegoers with severe drought of Hollywood movies and the delay of this film's release here. But does the tax standoff end beautifully just like this film? Well, that's another story.

CATATAN HARIAN SI BOY

Directed by: Putrama Tuta

“Mau ngeberesin apaan? Hidup lo aja berantakan gimana lo mau beresin yang lain?”

The impending tax standoff between the government and MPA has left me and so many Indonesian moviegoers in drought. This means severe drought for my English language blog since I cannot write reviews about X-Men: First Class or even lash my harshest words on the third metal clanging Transformers.

So in the spirit of trying to make this blog look alive, I have spin so many bottles and kick so many curbs to find the right film to review. Actually I have seen Limitless but at that time I am not in the mood to write reviews. Then I have another blog which this time is 90% in Indonesian language and that takes some of my free time. So gentle readers, ready for this one?

Let's cut to the chase. What is 'si Boy' anyway? For those who were born in the 90s, here's my take; Catatan si Boy (Boy's diary) was feature film made for five times in the 80s with Boy (Onky Alexander) as the main character. He's got everything that any girl would fall for; good looking, rich, smart, religious and attitude. The whole five films revolve around Boy and his romantic adventures and if you seen it now, it was so 80s with brick shaped hand phone to the language they used. The formula is simple, a protagonist surrounded with beautiful ladies and some fight happens with some other guy. It was immensely popular in the 80s.

So how does Putrama Tuta and his team make 'Boy' relevant for 21st century movie goers? Did he re-cast Boy? or make a remake? Fortunately not. He made an attractive and decent homage to Boy as legend plus make it relevant to today's film goers with reference to Google and Twitter.

Using Boy's diary as the Mac Guffin (Google yourself what Mac Guffin is if you never heard of it), Tuta manage to create a whole new story and character around the myth of Boy.

Boy himself (Onky Alexander) only appeared briefly but holds a pivotal part for this film. The difference between this one and the previous five Boy sequels are; this one is about friendship, not about one man’s quest to woo girls and being the center of the story all by himself although you can see Satrio's way to woo Natasha very clear. You don’t have to watch the previous ‘Boy’ to understand the story although if you have seen it, you can complete the ‘bigger’ picture.

Satrio (Ario Bayu, do you remember Kala from Joko Anwar where he is one of the leading actor? Joko Anwar also appeared in this film as a cameo) is a car mechanic and one cannot be mistaken if he is the 21st century Boy (minus didn't write any diary). He likes competition and illegal racing, he used to be born into silver spoon before he realize all the nice things he had in life was in fact a result of his father being a corruptor.

At one illegal car race he is arrested and sent to the police station. There he's bailed by his friends; Nina (Poppy Sovia), Andi (Abimana) and hilarious Herry (Albert Halim) who work in the same car station with Satrio.

Meanwhile Natasha (Carissa Puteri) just return from London to see her mother, Nuke (Boy's girlfriend from the 80s version, but her face wasn't shown at all) who is deeply ill. She is taken by Niko (Paul Forster) her boyfriend to the hospital. At the hospital she realized that her mother keep clutching to Boy's diary. So she tried to find where Boy is.

On the road home, Niko was assaulted by Jeffry's (Leroy Osmani, again if you have seen the first Boy film, he's some sort of the antagonist and he's back for a very brief time) henchmen since he cannot pay gambling debts. The car taken by Jeffry's men, Natasha went to the police station to report the assault and there the story begins. Natasha's journey to find Boy through his diary and Satrio's desire of competition to get Natasha's out of Niko's hand plus the journey to find Boy is the theme of this film.

As for me, I like this one. I mean it has been ages since I have seen a good Indonesian film. The production quality is top notch, it feels as if it has raise the bar for production standard in Indonesia.

Everything in this 98 minutes film is balanced, the drama, acting (Ario Bayu and Abimana stand out, the dialogue are real and fresh) comedy and action fits well. Some reference to the previous Boy is also present with Btari Karlinda, Didi Petet and Onky Alexander himself, making brief but important appearance.

Thumbs up for the effort and more movies like this will surely revive the so called drought in Indonesian movies quality.