At the moment Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is the lowest rated Potter movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and has gotten a poor reception from some of the top critics across the globe. Unfortunately for these self-satisfied critics who like nothing more than to hear the sound of their own bickering this movie wasn't made for them. This movie was made for the millions of Harry Potter fans who have reread the books and rewatched the movies dozens of times and who were ready to see the epic story of their hero come to an end. For them this movie is a masterpiece and that is why Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is the best we've seen from the Potter Franchise to date.
The movie takes more lines verbatim from the book than any of its predecessors. Book fans will be smiling throughout as their favourite line gets its air time. And for the first time in Potter movie history people will not be leaving the theatre bitching about what wasn't in the movie. The decision to split the movie finally gave the filmmakers enough time to do the book justice. The slower moving pace of the movie may bore some, but really allows the characters to get their final payoff.
And of course these characters were the highlight of the film. Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have developed into three of the best young actors of our generation. Our favourite trio really flex their acting muscle during the fight between Harry and Ron, Harry and Hermione's walk through Godric's Hollow, and Hermione 's torture scene. For the first time we are away from Hogwarts and they cannot rely on the adult actors to pick up the slack, but they don't miss the likes of Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane one bit.
Director, David Yates, took a much more "artsy" approach to this film than they've had in the past making for some quite fantastic visuals. The animated "Tale of the Three Brothers" scene is beautifully done and really keeps you captivated throughout quite a long story which yet again is taken almost directly from the book. The panning scenery shots we see in this film add another layer of depth to this visual masterpiece.
Part One of the finale certainly does not pull any punches in the violence department between Bathilda's attack, Ron's splinching and the previously mentioned Hermionie torture scene. All of this leaves us wondering what surprises we could be in for during the much gorier and violent Part Two of the movie.
I couldn't finish this review without mentioning what is undoubtedly the saddest scene in a Harry Potter movie to date. If Dobby's death at the end doesn't have you tearing up you're probably Lord Voldemort... or at least had your soul ripped apart a few times.
Yes the movie leaves you on a hanging point, yes it wasn't 24/7 action, yes it didn't have the charm of the first few. But Deathly Hallows Part One had much more than that and if you're getting hung up on these details go join the critics who are bashing this movie and you can all get your hate on together because for the rest of us this movie is fucking brilliant.
Rating:
S-A-B-R-E +1
