Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Finally, we get the final installment to the Harry Potter series, well the first part anyways. Evil has taken over, innocent people are dying every day, both the magical and muggle worlds are in shambles, and the government has been overrun by the bad guy. Sounds like the apocalypse, huh? It is, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione are there to experience the whole thing, it's going to be one hell of a ride. The books have ended and the famous boy wizard is reaching his end on the big screen. This is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

I got to admit as a big fan I was psyched to see this movie. I read the books and have all the movies, not to mention that the Deathly Hallows was my favorite of the books. I was so happy to hear that the movie was being done in two parts, which to me it meant that it wouldn't cut out stuff from the book, but that's not the issue, that doesn't make it bad though. I sat in the theater with a whole bunch of people, it was packed and it was hard to find a seat. As the WB logo drifted unto the screen the whole theater exploded into applause, me included. This movie starts off with Rufus Scrimgeour talking to the press, saying everything's going to be alright, but you know politicians, they lie. The movie started a bit differently than the book and it was done very well, i was excited from the first five minutes of the film.

This movie stars Daniel Radclffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. This time around a lot of characters are present but not a lot. Since Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the run you don't see a lot of the old cast. Although you don't see them a lot, their acting is still top notch. This marks Daniel's, Rupert's, and Emma's best acting yet. It seems like they wake up and they think they're Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they're just amazing and they have great chemistry together. You notice that Harry has really matured but is still troubled by the events that have taken place, Ron is as funny as ever but he shows off his dark side very well in this movie, and Hermione continues to act as the voice of reason but you notice that she's also very troubled, plus Emma Watson is totally hot. Another very welcome addition to the film was return of Dobby the house elf, who was sadly taken out from the previous films. Acting is great from everyone in this movie, you will not see a bad actor at all.

Another thing this movie had going on was its visual effects. They're simply amazing and they're better than ever. Every spell they did, every stunt looked as real as it can get in a movie. This helped the action really stand out in the movie. My favorite effect just happened to be an animated clip showing the story of The Three Brothers from The Tales of Beadle the Bard. The action sequences were great but there were actually only a handful of those scenes in the movie. The chase scene at the beginning was my favorite, fighting Death Eaters in midair, awesome. The movie also has great music, it's way better than the music in the previous movies if I might add. Every song, every note, everything about the music added so much feeling to the movie. For example there is a scene where Harry and Hermione are dancing in the tent, many laughed and all I though is: this is the friendship they've had for over seven years and it's stronger than ever.

Everything about this movie is dark, the world, the music, and the plain feel of the movie. These are dark times, not just for Harry but for every human being within Voldemort's range of power. Death lurks at every corner, and depression walks with you through every scene. This movie has a lot of emotion, it brings out the best and the worst from these actors, especially Rupert Grint, who was hands down the best performance in the movie. He was the comic relief throughout the movie most of the time, but he shows a lot of emotion in a couple scenes that marks him as a very believable human being. This movie will make you feel mad, not in a bad way though. It made you mad because the characters were mad, they were lost and everything just seemed hopeless, nothing seemed to be going the right way for Harry and his friends. This is something the movie does very well and I loved it, every single second of it.

Now seeing as I have praised this movie doesn't mean there wasn't anything wrong with it because there was. The main thing I didn't like about this movie is that it did take out some stuff from the books, for example that heartfelt goodbye that Dudley gave Harry at the beginning isn't there. Seeing at how long this movie was they could at least added some of this stuff that would make it a lot better than it already was. Another thing was the pacing of the movie. I don't know if it was just me but the movie seemed to be going too fast throughout the story, the only slow part of the movie was when they would be camping and that actually dragged on a little. But the at the pace the movie was going I wouldn't be surprised if people didn't know what was going on. Other than these things this movie is perfect for the Harry Potter fanatic, and great movie overall for people who have seen the others and actually liked them.

I do want to warn a lot of people that before you watch this movie you should re-watch the other ones because if you forgot what happened in the previous ones you'll be completely lost. Also for people who have never seen any of the movies or read any of the books there will be no point in watching this because you too will be lost. I also recommend, for the fans, to reread the book if you have forgotten some of it because the movie references a lot of things that were in the book but couldn't fully make it unto the movie, like Lupin's child for example, they referenced it but never actually mentioned it. This is movie mostly for the fans who followed both the movies and the books, and it was done very well. It's a great send-off for the Harry Potter series. This movie lacked action, but it was a great teaser for the final one releasing in July 2011.

Overall, acting was perfect, visuals were splendid, music was top notch, but the movie did have a pacing problem. It's emotional, sad, and just plain nerve wrecking. For the fans who read the book, the death of the little one (not saying who for the people who haven't read the book) who saved Harry and his friends is actually more emotional in the book than it is in the movie, it was the perfect way to send him off, I actually cried. In the end, as a Harry Potter fanatic, I give this movie a 10/10. Now that you're finished reading this go watch it, you definitely have nothing better to do than watch this movie, it's great.