After much disappointment from the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter fans will rejoice with the outcome of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The seventh film in the Harry Potter series has everything Harry Potter fans want: humor, suspense, thrill, romance, and most importantly, the movie justly portrays the book.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron are on a secret mission that Dumbledore left them–to hunt down the Horcruxes, and defeat Voldemort, the darkest wizard of the century, once and for all. It becomes so much more than that though.
Once the famous Harry Potter edition of the Warner Bros. logo showed on the overlarge IMAX screen shadowed away, the scene shifted to Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), the smart schoolgirl who is Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) best friend, in her bedroom. She erases her parents’ memory of her, and leaves them, not guaranteed she will ever come back. The dramatic opening marked the beginning of the end of the Harry Potter saga, and could not have been executed any better.
THE PLOT
To get Harry to safety, members of the Order of the Phoenix, the anti-Voldemort group, transport him by flying to the Weasley’s house, The Burrow. Six members disguised themselves as Harry, and as the Death Eaters, Voldemort’s followers, followed them, they had a much better chance of keeping The Chosen One safe.
A few days subsequent to the arrival at the Burrow, Bill Weasley, Ron’s brother, was marrying his bride-to-be Fleur Delacore. At the traditional Scottish wedding, Death Eaters arrive, hence marking the departure of Harry, Ron, and Hermione to fulfill Dumbledore’s mission.
Throughout the way, the trio encounters Snatchers, wizards who try to catch Muggle (non-magical folk)-borns and Blood Traitors, wizards who help Muggle-borns and don’t desire the extinction of Muggles. They stumble upon Death Eaters; they break into the Ministry and steal a Horcrux from the infamous Dolores Umbridge; they are captured in the Malfoy Manor; they become separated for a period of time; they depend on a unknown Patronus (a message from a wizard or witch that takes the form of a specific animal); and they narrowly avoid death by snake. The ending leaves the audience wanting to watch Part 2 right away. I can’t count how many Facebook statuses I counted Saturday morning that referred to wanting to see the second part that night.
Director David Yates does a stellar job creating all the traits that Harry Potter fans want to see in the movies. The seventh book in the series is a dark one, yet Yates found some room for humor. When Hermione wasn’t present, Ron talks about her to Harry: “We wouldn’t last two days without her,” Ron said. “Don’t tell her I said that.” The innocent humor brings some light to the situation. At one creepy part of the movie, I could see the entire theater literally jump out of their seats with surprise and fear.
As cliché as it sounds, the acting is phenomenal. After watching this movie, you would honestly believe that those actors really are those characters. Hermione has a remarkable performance as the smart girl who is always prepared and ready for anything. Voldemort is as frightening as we imagine him.
After witnessing the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I was upset with Yates for excluding so many important scenes and details that were originally in the book. He also changed a lot of the plot. I guess Yates decided it wasn’t good as well, and boy, did he change his reputation around. The seventh movie entails all the significant features of the seventh book. Of course some minute details of the book will be cut when a 759-page book is made in two movies, but Yates directed a film worth many nominations for Academy Awards, no doubt about that.
The only thing I wish Yates did was stay a little bit truer to the book. For instance, he completely ignored the fact that Ron set a spell on the ghoul living in his attic to make it appear to have Spattergroit, a nasty, contagious, and infectious disease. Also, at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Harry was supposed to be Cousin Barney, but he went as Harry Potter. Also, once they escape from Malfoy Manor, they go to a random place, not Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur’s place. These little details would have made the movie a bit better.
Even if the plot or the story line of Harry Potter doesn’t interest you, the effects and technical aspects of Part 1 will. All throughout the seven Potters scene, I kept thinking about how cool the effects were. I almost lost track of the story itself. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before, and the fact that it was in IMAX was over-the-top. I can genuinely say it was a fantastic job.
I can’t seem to stop saying such amazing things about this movie, but I really can’t help it. This film is, by far, the best Harry Potter movie to date. Hopefully Part 2 can compare, and possibly be better, than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, but Yates left very little room for improvement. Everyone, even if they aren’t Harry Potter fans, should see this movie, and I can assure you it is a run for your money.
