Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Review)

Here is a film that more or less defies criticism for multiple reasons. The first is that no matter what people like me write about it, the people who want to see the latest Harry Potter movie will see it. The second is that I am one of those people who has been a Harry Potter fan since childhood, and there is no way I could look at this objectively. The third reason is that this, really, is not a finished film. It’s the first half of a single movie, and as such I have to back off praising Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 too much. All I can say is this: so far, so good.

The trouble starts early as our dear friends at the Order of the Phoenix stop by to move Harry Potter to a new, safer location. The Death Eaters, Voldemort’s minions, ambush the magical convoy and what follows is what every Harry Potter movie needs: a car chase. It isn’t long before Harry, along with best friends Ron and Hermione must go on the lam to avoid capture by the Death Eaters. To describe the plot in much more detail would take hundreds of pages. J.K. Rowling already did that, as a matter of fact.

Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is certainly different than the rest of the films, but this is by design. Harry, Ron and Hermione never go to Hogwarts, but instead spend most of the movie wandering through the forest, constantly trying to find direction in their quest to defeat the Dark Lord. To do so, they must find and destroy the Horcruxes, the dark objects that give Voldemort his power. The question remains: where do they find them? What are they?

The characters spend most of the film frustrated, unable to give their quest much direction. The film is certainly exciting, but when all’s said and done not much has happened. Part 1 is a 150-minute rock bottom: things get progressively worse, characters die or start getting injured, and the film ends with everyone at their lowest point. The world is falling apart, and it’s up to these brave but foolish kids to keep it all together.

What Deathly Hallows: Part 1 handles incredibly well is the human drama between the three leads, and there’s enough of that to spare. It deals with the tension that would no doubt develop if you were to drop these three characters in the woods together, whether it is personal, sexual or otherwise. The film takes a few liberties with the Harry-Hermione dynamic, but it never goes overboard with it. These are desperate kids, and they’re still teenagers, and most of the film they just don’t know what to do. As the Harry Potter movies have gone on, the films have become increasingly character-focused, and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 takes it to its peak. While not much happens, I found the film engrossing most of the way through. These aren’t the innocent children that came to Hogwarts in 2001.

As far as the acting is concerned, it’s amazing how Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have come along. They aren’t sleepwalking through their performances, but instead giving it their all. There were moments when I was rather bowled over by how believable these character’s actions were from moment-to-moment, and that’s a testament to everyone involved. Outside our dynamic trio, when one looks at the supporting cast at play here it’s rather remarkable. If you name a British character actor, they’ve shown up at some point or another in this series, and most of them are back with a vengeance in Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Here their appearances range from contractually obligated (Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody) to the ol’ reliable (Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid).

The film is far from perfect. It's too long (as are most of the Harry Potter films) and it drags from time to time in the second act (as do most of the Harry Potter films), but a Harry Potter fan goes to these movies to see the literary world they’ve loved so much come alive onscreen, and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 did exactly as advertised. When the film ends, it is wholly unsatisfying, and I recognize that’s kind of the point, but when I leave a movie with an empty feeling inside I can't give it an enthusiastic grade. As an individual film, it’s incomplete. As the first act of what is no doubt going to be a great finale, it is incredibly successful. I, like the rest of Harry Potter nation, wait anxiously for the finale this July. As an appetizer, this’ll do just fine.

Rating:  (out of 4)