Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 picks up exactly where part one left off. Dark Lord Voldemort is holding the powerful Elder Wand skyward. Electricity rips through the dark night.

Game on.

As with part one, the plot is complicated. Voldemort is hunting Harry, Hermione and Ron who are hunting the last of the Horcruxes that hold pieces of the evil wizard’s soul. The mysterious mental connection between Voldemort and Harry intensifies. You learn why.

-- Local show times, theaters, trailer.

Also sorted out is the importance of the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility from the legend of the Deathly Hallows. An explanation is given about the mystery of Professor Dumbledore’s death and its connection to the traitorous Severus Snape.

The film ends in a well-done, effect-laden -- but drawn-out -- showdown.

Readers of the books know the ins and outs and can read between the lines. Those who’ve tracked the Boy Wizard via movies only should be up to speed on most of the story. Key word: most. Some parts will be fuzzy.

Director David Yates has done the last four films. Screenwriter Steve Kloves wrote all but one of the eight. As a team, they leave much to be desired. While I haven’t read any of the books, I do know that J.K. Rowling’s novels got deeper, more intense and more detailed as the series progressed. While they have intensity down, Yates and Kloves seem to have forgotten that Rowling’s books are packed with detail. Width, depth and length go along with intensity.

In other words, three dimensions. So it’s ironic that the final installment can also be seen in three-dimensions. However, the extra-dimension doesn’t add much. The story is flat in spots. It moves forward in clumps and is curiously two-dimensional.

What’s missing is the personality of earlier efforts.

Yes, kids grow up. Play and fantasy take a backseat to the real world, and admittedly, the fate of the world has been thrust upon the main character but still, the wrap-up needs more to it than the characters being moved around and through a plot like pieces on a chessboard.

At some point in the decade of mega-million dollar earning movies, the tale of the Boy Wizard and his wand-wielding friends lost its sense of humor. Harry Potter evolved into "Scary" Potter. It’s not scary in the sense that it will have young children wanting to sleep with the lights on, but things got more weighty than whimsical.

A more serious than magical Harry Potter isn’t close to as much fun.

Other than Rupert Grint, in the past 10 years the kids in the cast have become decent actors. Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson are especially good.

The adults don’t fare so well. As in The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Yates and Kloves’ waste the talents of the British cast of acting who’s who. While Ralph Fiennes gets a lot of screen time and is terrific as Voldemort. Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ciaran Hinds, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson, Jason Isaacs, Jim Broadbent and others are underused in the finale. Their characters no doubt contribute more to the end game than happens in The Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

This may seem out of character for someone believing most movies are a reel or two too long, but maybe the movies on the final book should have been in three parts and not two.

The climax left me wanting more.

Before you start banging on your keyboard ready to skew me for hating Harry, the complaints don’t change my recommendation that you see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 or my opinion that it is a great movie. However, much of the reason is because of Rowling’s wonderful characters, what directors before Yates were able to do with them and with the evolving story.

So there you have it. Ten years. Eight movies. Evil vanquished. It’s done.

Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars

Rated PG-13 for mature themes, violence. It opens Friday, July 15 at Regal’s Columbia Center 8 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.

5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.