Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1


We all knew that this was going to be the biggest Harry Potter movie of them all. It promised to be the summer blockbuster movie that rocked our world. It promised to be, the beginning of the end. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is now in the cinemas and living up to the hype all around the world.


Reprising their roles, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are back as the Golden Trio and setting out to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes so they can finally defeat him. Along the way, we can expect run ins with the fearsome Death Eaters, Ministry of Magic run militia, a few slightly odd characters and of course, Voldemort himself.


There were a curious few who wanted to know how the movie was going to show the tale of the deathly hallows or if it was just going to be Hermione reading the story from her book. While she does narrate the tale to her friends, there is an animation on screen telling the story of the three hallows and starting a quest to locate all three - the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility.


As with any of the Harry Potter movies out there, certain elements have been glossed over very quickly and others have been altered because... well, mostly because the movie studio could. Vernon Dursley, played for not even five minutes by Richard Griffiths, no longer puts up a fight before leaving his house. The Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) sees Harry before the wedding and Harry attends Bill and Fleur's wedding without disguise.


Needless to say, these are only minor details but they are changes for the sake of changes and given the role J. K. Rowling has with the movies, one can't help but wonder if they threatened to half her payment unless she approved the changes without a fight.


In saying that, we finally have a Harry Potter movie which is mostly true to the book. Walking out of the cinema, there were excited whispers that it wasn't a complete disaster like there was a general expectation. This is exceptional news for David Yates who butchered the two previous movies in the series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe now Yates can walk down the street and not be looked upon as the man who ruined the Harry Potter series.


All in all this is a great release with Ralph Fiennes as the evil Lord Voldemort, Alan Rickman is as unflappable as ever in his role as Severus Snape (well for the few brief moments he's in the film anyways) and Helena Bonham Carter as delightfully twisted Bellatrix Lestrange. 


This movie is everything that it promised and is going to have fans around the world clamoring for the final installment of the franchise due out July 2011. This is the summer blockbuster that we hoped for and a movie you don't want to miss.