Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
The
beginning of the end for Harry Potter fans is upon us as one of the
most consistently imaginative film franchises ever reaches its final
chapter.
Actually, unlike the previous titles from this literary sensation turned
blockbuster movie series, the final Harry Potter book Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows is being stretched out into two full
length films. (All the previous books were compressed into single movies.)
The first part is being released in November 2010; the second half will show
up in multiplexes the next summer.
As
Harry Potter and his wizard friends have grown older, the series has grown
steadily more adult and darker. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,
Part I continues this trend, and at the same time it is definitely the
most exciting film yet in the series. The last few films, while all
enjoyable and well-made, had a bit too many slow patches.
Deathly Hallows 1
starts off at a trot and
never really slows down. Two and a half hours pass with surprising
fleetness. Also, the inevitability and finality of the storyline after
all unless author J.K. Rowling changes her mind and writes another book,
these two films are as far as the story will ever go gives the proceedings
a gravity that the series has not always captured.
Still, for as much is going on here, not all that much gets accomplished.
Part 1 works
well and yet it feels, by necessity, incomplete like you were reading the
book and someone stole your copy for several months when you were right in
the middle. I would venture that Deathly Hallows will work much
better when both parts are on DVD and you are able to experience the story
as a whole as it was meant to be told.
That
said the film (or half of the film, as Part 2 contains necessary information
to make this narrative make sense) does find a relatively good place to stop
the action. Like The Half-Blood Prince, the last Potter film,
Deathly Hallows Part 1 climaxes with the death of an important
character in the Harry Potter universe though not as important a
character as the one who died last film. (Apologies to fans of that
character, but the dead character simply was not as vital to the storyline
as Dumbledore was.)
Deathly Hallows Part 1
starts off where
Half-Blood Prince left off and continues that chapters dark tone.
Harry and his friends are under attack by the minions of Valdemort, so they
all risk life and limb to hide the young wizard. The Ministry of Magic is
being perverted from the inside and Hogwarts is reeling from the death of
its headmaster.
The
rest of the film is essentially Harry, Ron and Hermione trying to evade evil
while on the run. Of course, being teenagers, there is a certain amount of
rampant hormones and a bit of jealousy muddying the waters.
Therefore, the story necessarily has the characters hiding out in remote
places, searching for clues and not quite getting where they need to be.
However, they will get there soon enough, and Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows is a good place-setter for the final showdown.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: November 17, 2010.
