Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

Audience: 91%

The penultimate Harry Potter film, Deathly Hallows, does not disappoint. It is, of necessity, a cliff hanger with the best yet to come; however, there's plenty of action and drama. The script follows the book closely, covering about 3/4 of the last novel and giving the filmmakers the ability to focus on those marvelous final chapters for the last film of the series -- due out next summer.

The focus in this film is on the three principal characters: Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint). These three young actors carry the movie while the older English heavyweights: Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, and Michael Gambon (whose character Dumbledore is, of course, dead), have only small to virtually nonexistent roles. But the three Hogwarts students do a fine job, and Grint deserves a "most improved actor" nod. All three began as young, relatively inexperienced actors; we've watched them develop from childhood through adolescence and, now in this latest film, to young adulthood -- they're on their own with the weight of the world on the shoulders.

This film is dark and definitely not for younger children. My six year old grandson still panics whenever his brother watches a Potter DVD with Dobby the house elf in it. BTW, Dobby comes into his own in this film, stealing scenes and full of confidence, determination, and fierce loyalty to Harry.

The weakest part of the movie is also the weakest part of the book: the camping episode. It drags and seems as unnecessarily protracted in the movie as it is in the text. In another initially strange scene, Harry endeavors to raise Hermione's spirits by dancing with her. As he invited her to dance, the audience laughed nervously at the awkwardness of the moment, but somehow the scene transforms into one of ineffable sweetness as one friend cares for the needs and hurts of the other.

The movie is, in short, "Brilliant."

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it