REVIEW: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

MOVIE
Harry Potter
And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

CAST
Daniel Radcliffe,
Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
November 19, 2010

DIRECTOR
David Yates

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 27 minutes




GRADE
A+ (99.5)







STARS
****










REVIEW:

From the first glimpse of the literally "deforming" Warner Bros. logo, to the film's climatic cliffhanger of a conclusion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the first of the final movies in the series, never loses its steam. The movie, which is part 1 of "The Deathly Hallows," which is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series is basically the back story to what's going to happen in Part 2, come July 15th. I was expecting a lot from thi movie, since I'm not a fan of "The Order Of The Phoenix" and thought that last years "Half Blood Prince" was more of a comedic rom-com than the typical Potter film. But my oh my, Harry Potter once again went high above my expectations.

In their supposed 7th year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to leave Hogwarts to complete a mission started originaly by Dumbledore. This mission involved defeating the evil Lord Voldemort once and for all. But in order to do this, the trio must find and destroy seven Horcruxes hidden throughout the magical world. A Horcrux is a split piece of a person's soul that keeps a human or wizard alive no matter what. At the same time, the trio learns about The Deathly Hallows, three different items that combined together, the wizard possesing all three would be unbeatable.

One of the main reasons why I absolutely love this movie is because it is completely different from any of the others in the series. Yes, the trio isn't attending school anymore, but it's not just that. It's mainly because in some ways, you get to see different sides of the characters. For example, in one scene, (SPOILER) while Ron is wearing one of the evil Horcruxes, he gets very agressive at Harry and eventually leaves the trio for quite some time. (END) That's only one of the great things about this movie's difference from the others.

Another great thing about this movie is that it explains more than it does in the other movies. You get reintroduced/introduced to characters mentioned in the books and movies, plus you get more information about anything than you could've in the previous entries in the series. This movie is about 2 and 18 minutes, not including credits. Without including credits, this movie is around the total running time as Order Of The Phoenix, the shortest/my least favorite film in the series. What's good about this is that this is ONLY part 1. The movie may feel slow at times, but it's that kind of pacing that shows that Warner Bros. really thought about splitting the final book into two movies, instead of thinking about it for the $$$. Yes, this movie WILL make a lot of money, but story, visual effects, and acting are the other reasons why people go to see the "Potter" films.

Speaking of acting, all of the actors in this movie do a superb job as usual. Most are quirky and funny at parts, but it's the darker characters that are indeed, dark. As it turned out, every player in this movie other than the three main leads have very miniscule roles in this movie. Most are only in the movie for 1-2 scenes, and thats about it, until Part 2 at least. But other than the small roles, the three main actors are all fantastic. The one main praise I can give from the trio is Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the series. I was never really a fan of him aside from the 1st and 2nd movies, since he never really played anything other than an angry, scared, or humerous guy. He's like that in this movie, but he really steps up his A game in this movie, especially with his intensity in one scene of this movie. But not just him, all of the main actors have really aged and matured over the past decade, and I can't wait to see the trios final role in the series next summer.

This movie is rated PG-13, and for a good reason, too. This is probably the most intense movie in the series, because a lot of frightening scenes, one in paticular involving voldemort's pet snake. Potter readers, you know which scene I'm talking about (Godric's Hollow). Not just that, but there are a lot of shocking deaths in this movie, and a intense torture scene that even had me turn away for a second or two. Along with that, there's one intense scene involving Ron attempting to destroy a Horcrux in the forest, along with Harry being choked underwater by this same Horcrux. So whether or not you're kid's a huge Harry Potter fan, this is more for either kids who have read/seen all of the books and movies and are slightly fearless enough to handle this, or kids 11 and over. End of story.

So overall, "Part 1" isn't the absolute best movie of the year, but it's in my top 10 for sure. With some quirky and funny moments throughout, and many intense and frightening scenes, this is one of the more enjoyable movies of the year, other than some stinkers from earlier in the year. Who would've thought that the creation of a down on her luck writer who started writing the first book in a coffee shop turn into a quote on quote "Worldwide Phenomenon"? I know I probably wouldn't have thought this, if I was old enough to see the movies when they originally came out. So if you have the means, this is one of those movies that is an absolutely worthwile theater experience. So do you want to see a good movie this holiday season? Well then you might want to travel with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to search for "The Deathly Hallows", Part 1.


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