Synopsis: Harry, Ron and Hermione set out to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s power – the Horcruxes. On their own and on the run, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever…but Dark Forces threaten to tear them apart.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 8.25

I made it! Months after getting started on the Harry Potter series, I’m up to speed on what everyone’s been talking about for a decade now. I always wanted to see these films, but there’s so much cinema to watch, to experience, and I simply didn’t get to it.

But I had made a promise to go see the final film at the big screen. That was motivation enough.

And I’m glad that I did: the series has been (generally) good, even if it has blemishes along the way. For every great piece of character or story development, there’s some empty action piece that brings nothing to the overall picture. For every ‘Chamber of Secrets’, there’s a ‘Giblets on Fire’.

And then there’s ‘The Deathly Hallows, Part 1’, which it turns out, is probably my favourite of the bunch. So far.

It has its weaknesses, for sure. There are inconsistencies such as Harry being traced at the beginning of the film, but, inexplicably, not later (so why the big fuss, then? oO). Or the simple fact that they keep hiding out in really obvious places, but the evil baddies don’t even have lookouts waiting for them. I mean, really, how disorganized are these malevolent ones? Why are looking for him in only the least obvious places?

But there are some great strengths to this one, such as the fact that something is FINALLY truly at stake; you get this sense that, once and for all, it’s not just an episode – something BIG is happening. This one is much larger in scope, and both realities are affected by what’s going on. In ‘The Deathly Hallows, Part 1’, the world is changing, and not for the best. Eek!

It’s certainly not just an empty (but fun) video game, like ‘Goblet of Fire’ was.

No, in ‘The Deathly Hallows, Part 1’, we are treated to political commentary in the form of a totalitarian regime developing at the Ministry of Magic. Sure, it’s all “borrowed” from ‘1984’ and our own world history (including recent events!), but I have to give Rowlings kudos for injecting some heavy food for thought in a family-friendly picture; Disney wouldn’t do it, that’s for sure. It takes guts to thumb your nose at the bottom line and take a risk that people will be put off – especially when you go “grim”.

And grim it is – even in the colour palette; it’s all greys and blacks, with very little respite from the darkness. So I can understand why some people were less keen on it – it could be considered depressing, if not oppressive. Thankfully, I have no such aversion, so I was able to enjoy the film as fully as possible – for someone who has not read the books and, thus, does not fully grasp language of the world of the Harry Potter.

The cast was solid enough and the film was directed with an even hand, at a decent pace (which was not always the case throughout the series!). The music was (thankfully) less John Williams-like, even if his themes recurred, and the special effects were mostly blended into the picture very well – an element that could be a real bother in previous installments of the series.

All in all, it’s a really enjoyable film. It may even make my end of year list, albeit towards the bottom (maybe, if I don’t stumble upon more exceptional cinema in the next 6 months, that is). Would I recommend it to non-Harry Potter fans? Not really: it’s still a Harry Potter movie, and you either like them or you don’t. Plus which you would have to brief them on everything before getting started.

Okay, I’m set. I am finally ready to see the final installment in the Harry Potter series. And i’m sure looking forward to it.