The first installment of the movie adaptation of the final book has finally arrived. I saw it during an 11pm showing last night, and I loved it. Perhaps I am biased in that I absolutely love the Harry Potter series, but I don't particularly care. This film feels more like a road movie compared to the others, as none of it is set at Hogwarts, and instead follows the trio as they hunt down the remaining of Voldemort's Horcruxes. I found this movie to be a breath of fresh air in that respect, I did not feel that the movies particularly needed to be removed from the Hogwarts setting, but it is interesting to see them in new locations. Credit must be given to the location scouting that happened for this film, the locations used were often breathtaking with the scenery surrounding the action being particularly beautiful.
Although allowing themselves two films to cover the last book, the pacing of this film still had to be pretty fast to get everything in. This worked both well and perhaps not so well. It allowed the movie to fly past, with the two and a half hour running time disappearing quickly. However it seemed to move past some things too rapidly, when they maybe should have been given a little more time to be addressed, but altogether this film has been put together and altered very well so that it covers everything that really should be covered.
The performances were again very good in this installment, with the usual characters delivering yet again. However, this is perhaps the film for which the young trio should be given a great deal of credit. They truly managed to hold the emotional weight of some of the story very well, and delivered very believable and naturalistic performances. As they are together all of the time in this movie, the tensions that inevitably arise between these teen characters are death with very well, with all emotions surfacing when these tensions come to a head. The chemistry between these characters feels very real, probably being down to the fact these actors have grown up with one another. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with only Harry and Hermione as they felt very genuine, and you can tell these actors have a great affection for one another. One scene that emphases this is the dance sequence that occurs. Although Daniel Radcliffe shows that he truly can't dance, this was the point as it showed the importance of fun and laughter, and altogether was very enjoyable to watch. And speaking of Hermione, Emma Watson is particularly beautiful in this movie, showing just how young they were in the original where she was about 4 feet high, with a near Afro of the frizziest hair possible.
Although I was a little disappointed with the absence of Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and lack of Alan Rickman as Snape, there was still one barnstorming piece of character acting. Helena Bonham Carter is absolutely superb as Bellatrix Lestrange, delivering a wonderfully psychotic performance, whenever she is onscreen her presence is unavoidable. One thing that is handled well in this film, is that there is no over usage of characters, which could have happened if the director David Yates had decided he wanted to please everyone by including every possible character. In doing this everything remains focused and unchaotic.
The use of humour is particularly effective in this film, mostly coming from the supporting characters delivering moments of hilarity when it is often most needed. However, this movie also has some particularly scary elements, particularly the eerie scene within Harry's birthplace, Godric's Hollow. The sight of elderly character Bathilda Bagshot looming in the darkness will send shudders down your spine. This movie also has particularly sad moments too, notably the death of one character which creates one of the most painfully sad moments of the series. This death is death with very well, but there are two other deaths in this movie, which just seem to go nearly unnoticed. The loss of these characters does not seem to wield any emotional significance to the characters, when they clearly would. This is probably again down to the lack of time to include all relevant material which is needed from the very busy final book.
This movie is shot very well, with the most interesting cinematography of the series so far. The cinematographers have shot this in a way which none of the previous installments had been, with bolder and more interesting means of capturing the action. There is also a particularly unusual animation sequence which depicts the story of the Deathly Hallows, this combined with the cinematography and locations provided the most visually interesting movie.
The direction is also clearly very significant in this movie as it has become evident that after his two previous Harry Potter movies, David Yates now has a full understading of the story and knows exactly what he wants from this, leading up to it's climactic conclusion.
Although this movie is ultimately an elongated build up to the final installment (set for a summer release next year), it does so very effectively, leaving you awaiting the story's conclusion with great anticipation, especially given the cliffhanger ending which left the audience groaning with displeasure in that they could not see any further right away. Despite various critics displaying their confusion in the separation of the last book, I feel it was completely necessary for it to be split over two movies, as without this so much would have been cut. This movie also perhaps relied too heavily on a knowledge of the books or previous films, creating the first movie that really cannot stand alone as a movie to be watched without a grasp of Potter's past, but for fans of the series this wont matter. I personally loved this movie, and look forward to seeing it again. Go and see 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1' and leave eagerly awaiting next summer's massive finale.
Verdict:
5 Stars
Although allowing themselves two films to cover the last book, the pacing of this film still had to be pretty fast to get everything in. This worked both well and perhaps not so well. It allowed the movie to fly past, with the two and a half hour running time disappearing quickly. However it seemed to move past some things too rapidly, when they maybe should have been given a little more time to be addressed, but altogether this film has been put together and altered very well so that it covers everything that really should be covered.
The performances were again very good in this installment, with the usual characters delivering yet again. However, this is perhaps the film for which the young trio should be given a great deal of credit. They truly managed to hold the emotional weight of some of the story very well, and delivered very believable and naturalistic performances. As they are together all of the time in this movie, the tensions that inevitably arise between these teen characters are death with very well, with all emotions surfacing when these tensions come to a head. The chemistry between these characters feels very real, probably being down to the fact these actors have grown up with one another. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with only Harry and Hermione as they felt very genuine, and you can tell these actors have a great affection for one another. One scene that emphases this is the dance sequence that occurs. Although Daniel Radcliffe shows that he truly can't dance, this was the point as it showed the importance of fun and laughter, and altogether was very enjoyable to watch. And speaking of Hermione, Emma Watson is particularly beautiful in this movie, showing just how young they were in the original where she was about 4 feet high, with a near Afro of the frizziest hair possible.
Although I was a little disappointed with the absence of Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and lack of Alan Rickman as Snape, there was still one barnstorming piece of character acting. Helena Bonham Carter is absolutely superb as Bellatrix Lestrange, delivering a wonderfully psychotic performance, whenever she is onscreen her presence is unavoidable. One thing that is handled well in this film, is that there is no over usage of characters, which could have happened if the director David Yates had decided he wanted to please everyone by including every possible character. In doing this everything remains focused and unchaotic.
The use of humour is particularly effective in this film, mostly coming from the supporting characters delivering moments of hilarity when it is often most needed. However, this movie also has some particularly scary elements, particularly the eerie scene within Harry's birthplace, Godric's Hollow. The sight of elderly character Bathilda Bagshot looming in the darkness will send shudders down your spine. This movie also has particularly sad moments too, notably the death of one character which creates one of the most painfully sad moments of the series. This death is death with very well, but there are two other deaths in this movie, which just seem to go nearly unnoticed. The loss of these characters does not seem to wield any emotional significance to the characters, when they clearly would. This is probably again down to the lack of time to include all relevant material which is needed from the very busy final book.
This movie is shot very well, with the most interesting cinematography of the series so far. The cinematographers have shot this in a way which none of the previous installments had been, with bolder and more interesting means of capturing the action. There is also a particularly unusual animation sequence which depicts the story of the Deathly Hallows, this combined with the cinematography and locations provided the most visually interesting movie.
The direction is also clearly very significant in this movie as it has become evident that after his two previous Harry Potter movies, David Yates now has a full understading of the story and knows exactly what he wants from this, leading up to it's climactic conclusion.
Although this movie is ultimately an elongated build up to the final installment (set for a summer release next year), it does so very effectively, leaving you awaiting the story's conclusion with great anticipation, especially given the cliffhanger ending which left the audience groaning with displeasure in that they could not see any further right away. Despite various critics displaying their confusion in the separation of the last book, I feel it was completely necessary for it to be split over two movies, as without this so much would have been cut. This movie also perhaps relied too heavily on a knowledge of the books or previous films, creating the first movie that really cannot stand alone as a movie to be watched without a grasp of Potter's past, but for fans of the series this wont matter. I personally loved this movie, and look forward to seeing it again. Go and see 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1' and leave eagerly awaiting next summer's massive finale.
Verdict:
5 Stars
I also totally loved that the Deathly Hallows sequence was animated. Brilliant touch.
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