Review of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1'
7th film in the 'Harry Potter' series
Here we are at the final installment of the Harry Potter series but have to wait for the second part to see how things all turn out (which should be a surprise to no one really).
Harry is a bit depressed with the events of the previous installment, particularly the death of Dumbledore. With the death eaters and Voldemort now out to get him (taking over the Ministry of Magic, amongst other things) – Destroying anyone and everything that gets in their way. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) goes into hiding in order to concentrate on finding and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes, thus destroying Voldemort himself. Of course, along with Harry is Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) though they are not getting along so well as they used to with the hormones well and truly flowing (with a splash of Voldemort malevalance thrown in). There is a mad dash through London (always a bit of fun), a covert visit to the Ministry of Magic, and a disasterous turn of events at a wedding…Oh my…
Things are turning decidedly dark and this is shown throughout the movie particularly vivid in the statue depicting the crushing of the muggles in the Ministry of Magic. The effects are, as always, particularly good and most the actors certainly are very convincing in their roles with the noteable exception of Emma Watson who appears to be unable to emote in any believable way at all.
I must say it was good to see that in this installment the pretence of providing “3-D” has been summarily dismissed after the last episode's disappointingly short 10 minutes of 3-D. The decision to shoot this entire last feature in 2-D is welcome as the 3-D would simply detract from the story which will surely fill the best part of 5 hours in total. The decision to effectively shoot the whole book is entirely a different matter and it will likely be only the direst of fans that will watch this movie more than once or twice. A lot of talking and not a lot of action though, admitedly, when the action does come it is pretty exciting and does rivit one's eyes to the screen (the first 15 minutes or so I recall quite vividly). The pace, however, is generally slow…Perhaps to be savoured by the fans in this the last of Harry's great adventures.
Bring on Part 2…
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2011-01-07
Directed by: David Yates
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Year: 2010
Length: 146 minutes
Genre: Fantasy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0926084/