Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) by Cameron J — 12 Apr 2014

Okay, C. Robert Cargill, now we are, in fact, looking at "Harry Potter and the Half-Done Script". Ladies and gentlemen, I present yet more young people getting into intense adventures in the woods in "The Blair Wizard Project". I mean, one of them is actually a witch, but I'm not directly taking the original title, because the twist is hardly clever enough, and at any rate, I'm insulting this film enough by likening it to the found footage film which must not be named (Hey, it's like Voldemort) in the first place. Well, actually, I don't know if this film is that much less gimmicky, because you know that a prominent factor in the decision to split this final adaptation into two films was a potential for an utterly obscene amount of money. That's right, kids, we're finally nearing the end of this saga, and if you're into the books... well, come to think of it, you're probably not there, because the books up until now have been long enough, and considering that the final one is apparently big enough to deserve a two-part adaptation, when this film came out, three years after the book, readers probably were only halfway through. Oh, I can't even joke in an attempt to justify the two-part adaptation, because the actual longest installment in the "Harry Potter" book series is "The Order of the Phoenix", and David Yates managed to make that book into a film which was almost ten minutes shorter than this half-film, alone. It's okay, because this film is at least better than "The Order of the Phoenix", and "The Order of the Phoenix" was far from shabby, although it certainly had its faults, not unlike this... um, half-installment.

While unreservedly the series' best filmmaker, David Yates' directorial trademark is a certain thoughtfulness that has a tendency to get carried away, and while this film is not as dry as the strong, but still rather dull "The Order of the Phoenix", Yates abandons much of the liveliness that made "The Half-Blood Prince" the perfect balance of fun and steady, and instead incorporates certain dry spells that, while rarely, if ever dull, stiffen pacing and give you time to think about the meanderings that are even found in Steve Kloves' scripted storytelling. I reckon this is the first installment in the "Harry Potter" series where the biggest issue is the final product's being way too short, because each note in this saga has kind of outstayed its welcome, although that's not to say that this installment doesn't also tend to drag its feet, with repetitious filler, much of which blends into plotting, making much of the material that thrives on inconsequential-seeming happenings feel themselves inconsequential. It doesn't help that this film sees much material plagued with a been-there-done-that feel that the series picked up after a while and is arguably at its worst here, being distinguished in many ways from its predecessors' formula, but still falling into general dramatic tropes, deeply enough to feel predictable, or at least a tad bland in its sheer familiarity. Kloves' writing is where this film really falls short, relatively speaking that is, being pretty solid on the whole, but with moments of excess, if not laziness, found in hints within those conventional storytelling touches, and really found within limitations in exposition and depth. I figured that Kloves really honed in on his development skills with the well-rounded "The Half-Blood Prince", and that the writer would take advantage of working with a two-part story to draw as much depth as he could in this build-up-heavy penultimate installment in the "Harry Potter" series, but this film really proves me wrong, because the fact of the matter is that the biggest issue in the final product is its being too short, thinning immediate development with little focus on the leads' motivation to abandon their lives for a dangerous adventure, while throwing gradual exposition out of whack through some sudden abandonment of potentially promising layers that end up feeling expendable, if not through an altogether lack of attention towards such aspects as changes in and fats of once-important supporting characters, and side-happening that might define the central narrative, until you're left with an effective drama that still leave so much to be desired. As it goes along, the film begins to tighten up and hit pretty hard as a well-rounded dramatic blockbuster, and yet, no matter how much smoother storytelling gets to be, the final product is always either draggy or simply too tight for its own good, placing very little exploration into too many aspects, and forcibly so, with a sense of laziness that, while not devastating as a blow to the film, or even all that big of a challenge to a thorough degree of compelling, places a serious threat on excellence. That is, of course, only a testament to just how inspired the stronger touches of this film are, because as truly messy as the final product is in a lot of ways, what it does right it does exceptionally well, and that, as you can imagine, particularly goes for style.

At the height of his popularity, Alexandre Desplat earns the honor of being this series' final score composer, and while he doesn't exactly live up to the outstanding efforts that Nicholas Hooper just contributed to this series through the first two installments of the David Yates phase, his trademark subtle classicality, colored up a bit by the series' trademark whimsy, haunts by its own right, and breathes some life into the film's atmosphere, immersing you almost as much as the visuals. As an adventure opus and the only installment in the series set outside of Hogwarts, this film doesn't provide all that much in the way of production value, but it all but compensates with its celebration of an environment we're more familiar with through solid tastes in immersive location, while keeping a sense of magic going through stellar visual effects that are particularly complimentary of tight, dizzyingly stylish and altogether intensely well-staged action set pieces that, while underused, all but consistently outdo the action of any of the predecessors, and go complimented by Eduardo Serra's handsomely gritty cinematography. The film certainly has style going for it, same as any "Harry Potter" film, even going so far as to deliver nifty technical proficiency to editing and sound design, but when it comes to the realized orchestration of style, in addition to the handling of substance, that's where David Yates comes in, getting a little too thoughtful for entertainment value's own good, but still being the primary reason why this film transcends the many missteps to scripted storytelling and excels on the whole, thanks to his being as audacious as ever in utilizing mature happenings and edgy imagery (Interesting how this series started out meant for kids, then ended up featuring someone having slurs carved into her wrists by a witch's teeth) behind a meditative atmosphere to provide grit that is consistently tense, and sometimes moving in its doing justice to subject matter that is particularly weighty. Even as just half of a story, this film's narrative carries a lot of dynamicity as an adventure, intensity as a thriller, and depth as a human drama, and it's simply not done all that much justice by Steve Kloves, who has been so good - nay - amazing at adapting to the twists and turns in this series, but gets messy in his slipping into tropes, excesses and, worst of all, thinness, though not so messy that he doesn't come close to truly compensating through clever dialogue and humor which punctuates weighty highlights in dramatic characterization that provide more subtlety and consequentiality than any installment in the "Harry Potter" saga. Again, the film is always messy with its structure, but its earlier acts are particularly misguided, even if they are still well-directed enough to thoroughly compel, and after a while, once you get used to the film's questionable formula, it gets easier and easier to overlook the shortcomings, towards strengths that are ultimately plentiful and effective enough to make a truly excellent final product that, of course, couldn't exactly be completely secured as excellent without a worthy cast. As much as I complain about how this film should put more attention into fleshing out its supporting characters, this film was always to primarily focus on marking one last adventure to define the iconic lead trio's dynamic, and on that level, it succeeds exceptionally, not on Yates' back, but on the backs of its leads, all three of whom share chemistry that is as dynamite as ever, while delivering as individual talents, with the lovely Emma Watson projecting a sensitivity that reflects the vulnerability that defines the humanity of the Hermione Granger character, while Rupert Grint stands out in his portrayal of an aggression that reflects the Ron Weasley character's anger and passion to avenge fallen peers and earn respect, and Daniel Radcliffe nails a sense of genuine heroism, complete with nuanced layers which reflect Harry Potter's flaws and anxieties, met with an effective lead charisma. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson all play equal roles in carrying this film, making the final product particularly satisfying as a farewell to the intimacies of the dynamic trio we watched grow up, which isn't to say that the film doesn't satisfy in plenty of other ways, being flawed, but inspired enough to stand out as yet another excellent endeavor in the "Harry Potter" saga.

When, or rather, just before it's all said and done, an excellent film is plagued by some dragging, bland spells and conventions, and heavily threatened by some glaring underexplorations in storytelling depth, but not to where haunting score work, handsome cinematography, immersive locations, excellent visual effects and action, generally sharp direction and writing, and strong performances by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson don't prove to be enough to make "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" gripping enough as a thriller, drama and penultimate "Harry Potter" installment to truly stand out as a pretty solid affair.

3.5/5 - Excellent.