Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) by William C — 11 Jul 2015

Rating-8/10.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is of course the first part of the end for Harry and all of his world who are stuck in some dangerous times. Voldemort is getting stronger and this is the first time we truly see raw emotion and drama, our young actors are getting better and the movies are getting oh so much darker. This for me is the first Harry Potter where drama rules the roost, it doesn't take those fantasy and family elements too heavily and what comes of this is a deeply insightful look at the characters emotions.

Our plot follows basically anyone who is facing the wrath of Lord Voldemort and his dreaded death eaters, people are being killed everyday and even though they aren't characters we know, it still brings a more human touch to an otherwise magical affair. For me this is the point where Daniel Radcliffe's career in acting becomes solid, sure he has been doing this for years and years but this is him acting to his highest potential and the most skilful heights.

David Yates yet again takes the helm and although I didn't feel he does very well, still does this well enough, I'm not the keenest on Yates's direction style but he never does a bad job though. I think the same goes for the adapted screenplay, not the finest of fine but it is still done well too and can at times actually create some of the most interesting scenes we have seen in Harry Potter. I think one area that this movie truly improves upon is the technical side, the special effects are absolutely flawless, made to perfection and the cinematography is as always wonderful, that's one point I feel is looked over with Harry Potter, the cinematography.

A reason I think this is so fine and for me personally one of the best in the series is that it just breathes emotion, it isn't afraid of mixing the dark times with comedy and characters such as Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) provide that. This movie I have seen is sometimes considered too slow, too much talking and maybe a little bit over long, I disagree. I found it to be exciting throughout, you never know what will happen next(unless you know the books of course), but even then it is still pulsating.

A thing to mention for this film is the score, the long shadow of John Williams still hangs over the series but I feel it has now been taken off with a fine score from Alexandre Desplat. Desplat for me makes one of the best there has been in the series, the film is made much more tense with his style of music and particularly around the beginning his score is loud and triumphant but also brings the situation facing Harry and others down to earth. The design is also one of the best I have seen, the sets are fantastic and the choices of locations to shoot are breathtaking, this truly for me continues the step up the series took in Half-Blood Prince.

Overall this movie surprised me, I have viewed this many times but never truly appreciated the heart of this movie, but also the dark side too. Full of action but also long conversations, many may consider this too long and boring to watch but for me this is a fine entry and sets up Part 2 in the best way it could do. Recommendation wise this actually is the first Harry Potter I feel the little kids may not like, it has it's scary moments and also very black scenes too, but they are done so well.