REVIEW: Movie good, but book much better
The first half of the last installment of the Harry Potter saga came to the the big screen Nov. 19 with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.” The famous trio Harry, Ron and Hermione come together again to take down the evil Lord Voldemort. This movie is the start of Harry’s grand finale, and I am very happy they split the Deathly Hallows into two separate movies. It allows viewers to get the story in greater detail, and enjoy it for longer.
Before I get too far into this review, I need to get some things that I am biased about out there. I absolutely loved the seventh book of the Harry Potter series, and generally I have hated the movie adaptations of the books, especially the sixth movie. They seemed to rush through the story and it was like trying to stuff everything into an allotted amount of time, and in the case of the sixth, the ending was changed completely. I am a book loyalist for sure, so it is safe to say I was nervous about this movie.
It also must be said that for movies as big as this one, everyone is going to have strong opinions. I don’t think I am an exception to this rule.
Overall, I thought this movie was very good. It told the story of the book very well, and director Daniel Yates did a good job of setting the stage for this grand finale with an extraordinary opening scene that depicted a meeting among Voldemort and his loyal followers, the Death Eaters.
Throughout the movie, I felt like I was at a family reunion. It was like Yates made sure to show off every character and give them their own momentary spotlight. I thought this was a good decision. As the young adults that we have grown up with begin their adventurous search for the horcruxes, Hogwarts school is nowhere to be seen. They are up against all odds, and have to stay in a tent and keep on the move to avoid capture by Voldemort’s loyalists who have also taken over the Ministry of Magic.
Their progress is always up and down as they struggle to locate and destroy horcruxes. It becomes too much for Ron, and he decides to leave Harry and Hermione on their own for a while. Of course, he returns just in time to save Harry’s life.
The ending of this movie is not an ending at all. It stops at a little over halfway through the book, but I thought Yates did a pretty good job of picking a spot to wrap it up.
Something that I really liked about this movie was that it was so dark. I could definitely feel the tension throughout the film. It could be said that death was in the air. Most of the time in a movie this isn’t desirable, but I liked it because that is how the book is. I felt the same tension and despair that I felt while reading the book, and I was so happy Yates was able to recreate that.
While some parts of the movie felt rushed, overall it wasn’t bad. It was fast-paced, but not rushed. I credit this to the decision to split the last book into two movies.
This movie was substantially better than the past few movie adaptations of the Harry Potter books. Yet as with almost all movie adaptations of books, the original novel was so much better. I love the book so much and I would recommend it to anyone. I love it.
Still, Yates did a great job of depicting this incredible book, and I am so excited to see part two and how Yates puts the last few hundred pages of the novel onto the big screen. It will surely be a great movie-watching experience.
As for this movie, it wasn’t terrible like the sixth movie and I do recommend it.
– jace.smellie@aggiemail.usu.edu