The latest installment of the Harry Potter franchise has finally made it’s way to the big screen, and was greeted by a franchise record opening weekend of $125.1 million. Potter fans flocked to the theaters for part one of the final chapter in the saga.
The story kicks off darker than the previous entries have, showing some of the atrocities that Voldemort has been perpetrating throughout the world since his return, including a murder during what seems to be a board meeting between Voldemort and his trusted servants, and a sad moment of Hermione (Emma Watson) leaving home and erasing her parent’s memories of her ever having existed. It really doesn’t ever lighten up as the movie progresses.
Next on this week's agenda, evil!
There are a few “lighter” moments scattered throughout, but for the most part the movie follows the first half of the final book faithfully, and the first half of the book consists of a lot of the main characters running away and losing, while Voldemort continues his reign of terror. While this gives the movie a much darker feel than the any of the previous offerings, it does so rightly, as it very well prepares the viewer for what is to come.
One of those lighter moments comes early when Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is leaving his home for the final time. The plan is to use multiple Harry Potters through the use of polyjuice potion, and some humor ensues as the imposters turn into Harry, still in their original clothes.
How many Harry Potters does one movie need?
As is the case throughout the movie, however, the joviality is short, and the film goes right back to it’s dark tone as Hedwig dies in the battle the ensues during the escape. This serves to bring a decisive end to Harry’s childhood and innocence, and sets up what’s to come in the rest of the movie.
The story after this “escape” from Harry’s past life very closely follows the exploits of the Harry, Hermione and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they attempt to hunt down and destroy all the Horcruxes, magical devices which make Voldemort immortal. The main characters spend most of the movie camping in a tent and waiting for clues or some epiphany to come to them, and while it usually does, the scenes in the tents could probably have been scaled back a little. There are some touching and important moments that happen here, but the other time spent with these characters essentially just waiting seems unnecessary.
Much of what the characters learn only leads to more questions, and very few of these are answered by the end of the movie. While readers of the book will have a good grasp of what’s going on, those who did not opt to read the series first will be a bit lost, and will likely stay that way until the next movie comes out in 8 months or so.
The movie also shows a lot of the main trio running from Voldemort and his servants. This does a great job to show just how dire their situation is. They do attempt to fight when the situation permits, but end up spending most of the time running and hiding instead.
The animation used to tell the story of the Deathly Hallows is downright amazing. This sequence really stole the show and was a welcome relief to the much darker tone of the rest of the plot. One huge plot point that was revealed in the book, and hopefully will also be revealed in the upcoming movie is the use of Voldemort’s name. Multiple times in the movie, the main characters are attacked shortly after using his name, and the book explains this is because the name is hexed to allow him to instantly locate anyone who uses it, leading to the use of such monikers as “He Who Shall Not Be Named” and “You Know Who”.
The main trio running away, you'll see a lot of this.
This is never really explained in the movie, and while it might be seen as not necessary for the story, it really does a great job of showing just how powerful the villain is, and lends a bit more hopelessness to the situation of those fighting Voldemort.
The movie does get slightly disturbing when the group is captured and taken before Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) and Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), who suspect Harry Potter is among the group. They notice a sword that the group was carrying, and Bellatrix begins to torture Hermione demanding to know where she got it. Though the torture does take place off-screen, the screaming is rough to listen to, especially with the reaction from Ron. The crew does eventually escape with some help from Dobby, who dies in the effort, leading to this film’s final moments.
The split chosen by the director, which serves as the end of this film is definitely an emotional scene, actually much more so than it was even portrayed in the book, the only problem here is that any ending other than the actualy end of the book leaves the story feeling unfinished, which it is. This is really the biggest problem we have with this movie, it’s a very dark story, which leaves you unfinished and with many unanswered questions.
Overall, the movie stays very true to the book, which is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because this is the best book of the series, and an excellent conclusion, at least in our opinion. The biggest problem with the film sticking so closely to the book is that given where the movie was split, much of the real action, and nearly all the answers, will be contained in part 2, which is slated for release in July 2011. This means that moviegoers, especially those who choose not to read the books first, will be waiting 8 months to get their answers.
The final verdict: 9/10
The only real downfall we could find here is having to wait 8 months to find out what happens (or see how it looks on-screen for those who read the books). The movie is true to the book, and although it has a much darker, more morose tone, this does a wonderful job of showing the true gravity of the situation for the main characters, and setting the stage for the conclusion of the story as a whole.
