Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Review

    Note: Finally, we are here.  After several hours of watching, in some cases re-watching, researching, and blogging, I have finally arrived at my last Harry Potter review ever...until Part 2 comes out.  Let me just say I have had a great time going through these movies, and I hope you had a good time reading these reviews.  I now have a great amount of respect for these movies, the actors, as well as the source material.  I can't way to delve into those as well, and I am excited for what awaits me.  Thank you all for reading these, your support is what keeps me going.  I have never blogged this much in such a short time (Not about to do that again anytime soon), and it has really given me new perspective about how to write these reviews.  If you all enjoyed these, please let me know, and if you would like me to review any other franchises, please let me know.  Thanks for reading. :)
Director: David Yates
Screenplay: Steve Kloves (Screenwriter for all the Harry Potter movies except Number 5)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill)
Gross revenue: $609,552,000 worldwide (As of 11/28/10)
Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter: 78%
IMDB Rating: 8.1
Rotten Tomatoes Tomato Meter
       Finales are a hard thing to get right.  More then one trilogy has has 2 great first films, only to be let down by a sub-par "threequel" (Star Wars, Spider-Man).  Even though Harry Potter past the third film mark years ago, there is still amount of anticipation and expectation for the first part of the final installment of the Harry Potter saga, especially for fans of the book.  It has to properly wrap up all the necessary plotlines, answer any hanging questions, and provide a fitting and exciting climax that brings the series to a sweeping end.  Fortunately, for the most part, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the beginning of an excellent finale, and is worthy of the franchise's best films.

     Deathly Hallows begins with our favorite trio in their first year NOT at Hogwarts school.  Instead, they are on a quest to destroy the key to defeating Voldemort once and for all: the Horcruxes.  After a fateful attack leaves many of their crew scattered, injured, and even dead, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to head out on their own.  Despite being clueless about where to look, they search anyway, discovering more about themselves, as well as Voldemort's true plan.
      Deathly Hallows is a unique film in the Potter saga.  Due to the length of the book, and the amount of material covered in the book, the filmmakers decided to split the movie into two parts.  (A smart movie artistically and financially).  So as it stands, Deathly Hallows is literally the first half of a movie.  So it is harder to truly dissect and judge, when it is lacking in plot structure.  But I will do the movie justice, and do my best.
    The opening scene for Deathly Hallows Part 1 was honestly the best scene in Harry Potter yet.  I absolutely loved the first third of the movie.  It was exciting, exhilarating, and fast-paced as any hardcore action movie.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, completely and utterly invested in what was happening with these characters who I've come to know and love over the course of these 6 movies.  Then even after everything slowed down, there were beautiful, quiet character-driven moments, like the wedding or Dumbledore's will scene, that really helped make the movie for me.  Deathly Hallows wasn't going to just be a straight-up action movie like Order of the Phoenix, or just character-driven story like Half-Blood Prince.  It was going to be an exiting mixture of both, the perfect Harry Potter film.  It was the best beginning for any Harry Potter film yet.

    Then it got worse.  Right about when Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out on their own to look for the Horcruxes, the movie really slows down, in a bad way.  I know that these scenes are important not only for plot but also for developing characters, but these scenes were just really boring.  Part of the cause if the plot itself; they had no idea where they were going or what they were doing.  So to make such a loose plot work, the action on screen between the characters has to be GOLDEN, and absolutely invigorating and interesting.  And, it just wasn't.  It's like the director said "Let's just get through these scenes so then we can get to the good stuff".  I did love the scene when Ron leaves where Harry and Hermione dance together after Ron leaves.  What many found to be a comical farce I found to be a truly touching moment between two best friends, contemplating going past that point.  (But thank God they didn't, Ron and Hermione forever.)  While there are stand out scenes here, the movie doesn't really begin to pick up again until Ron comes back.  And what a way to return.  His story of the light device pointing to Hermione nearly had me cheering during the film.  So despite a few stand out scenes, the middle third of the pictures is kind of sluggish.
    Then the movie picks up again.  The last third of the movie is awesome, especially the last 20 minutes that takes place at the Malfoy mansion.  And what a cliffhanger!  I almost screamed "NO!!" when it ended.  the movie really picked up again, moving at a much quicker pace then the second third of the movie.  I love the Malfoy mansion scenes, and I thought it was a great place to end the first half.

     Deathly Hallows is different for another reason.  It's the only Potter film to not feature Hogwarts at all.  This has been the bread and butter of the franchise up to this point, and doing a "road movie" for the last film was a very bold choice.  I don't think the filmmakers quite understood how to "fill in" the Hogwarts scenes with scenes of Potter and crew on the road.  That's why I think the film suffers during the middle.  I understand that that is the same plot structure of the book, but books and movies are VERY different.  What works in literature does not often work in film, and a lot of wandering around does not really work well in film.  There has to be focus, which it didn't have.  So as much as I love Deathly Hallows as a whole, there are just bits and pieces that I wish were better.
    However, I do understand that this is just the first half of a 4 hour movie.  There is no climax, resolution, or ending.  The filmmakers literally cut the film in half, so it's like I watched the first half of a movie, then turned it off and tried to review it.  It just doesn't work like that.  I am really anxious for Part 2 to come out, not only to see how it all ends, but because I want to come back and watch Part 1 and Part 2 consecutively to see if my feelings change, which I suspect they might.  We'll have to see in July.

    Deathly Hallows Part 1 is about as good as anyone could have expected.  It has enough excitement and thrills to keep you hooked, and enough character development to push the story forward.  Despite some flaws in the middle, Deathly Hallows is truly a great film, and it's successor is only going to be better.  Despite some problems with pacing and story in the middle, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is as exciting and heartfelt as any film in the saga, and is a great set-up for Part 2. 4/5.
My final ranking of the Harry Potter films
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 4.5/5
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 4/5
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 4/5
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 4/5
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 4/5
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 4/5
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 3.5/5