Alan Rickman, who played Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, was not convinced by the finale to the fantasy movie series. Rickman played the Harry Potter character for over a decade, appearing as a major character in each of the eight instalments.
The actor, who died in 2016 aged 69, was widely considered to be one of the highlights of the adventure movies. His languid voice and stern demeanour suited the character perfectly, and it’s hard to imagine any other actor taking on the role of the Hogwarts Potion’s Master, who was the confidant of Dumbledore.
Now, an extract from Alan Rickman’s diaries has been published in The Guardian, and it reveals the actor’s less-than-glowing review of the final Harry Potter movie.
In the extract, which is dated to July 7, 2011, the actor relays his thoughts after attending the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. He wrote “I found it unsettling to watch – it has to change horses midstream to tell the Snape story and the camera loses concentration. Audience, however, very happy.”
Those are fair criticisms, especially coming from Professor Snape himself. The movie does have to diverge from the rest of the plot while it reveals the truth behind Snape’s backstory, and his true intentions. In doing so it does, arguably, lose control over its narrative.
However, Rickman was also right to observe that the movie still managed to be a crowd-pleaser. In fact, the movie was one of the most critically well received, and commercially successful of the whole franchise. If only the Fantastic Beasts movies had managed to maintain that track record.
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