Harry Potter movie saga is just 2 steps away from the climatic ending, and what has been a magical journey for Potter and friends for the past decade to entertain us in the big screen. There hasn't been any other movie series where it keeps progressing throughout the years, with the same main cast, and most importantly, the new movie has been always much better, and matured a lot, following the growth of the main cast. Not all of us may like or follow Harry Potter, but we got to admit, it takes lots of dedication, work, time, and seriousness to make an extensive long time project such as this one. I believe Harry Potter has triggered lots of other projects to transfer fantasy stories into movies (apart from LOTR series, Narnia has been a successful example, while others were created ambitiously yet ended up as failures).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HPDH) is the final chapter of the saga, and with the consideration of more in depth storytelling, the studio decided to break the thing into two parts ala Kill Bill. And truthfully, it was a spot on decision, since in my opinion; HPDH is the best of the series so far. Not just it is dark and thrilling, but it shows the depth of the main character which was not shown in the previous movies. To tell you upfront without leaking any spoiler, most of the screen time is given to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Without the brilliant performance from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, the movie must have been very dull and empty. These three people have matured a lot for the past few years, especially Rupert, in view of the fact that he shows many emotional sides of Ron Weasley.
HPDH part 1 story continues with the miserable life of the good guys after Dumbledore’s tragic death, while Voldermort and the Death Eaters have been gaining power and influence dramatically. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been escaping any attention from the radar, whereas the moogle (non witch blood) are living under the new regime of terror, since the Ministry has been infiltrated by the dark side. Together, Harry must find the remaining horcruxes (7 parts of Voldermort soul for the purposes of gaining immortality), whilst in the process of finding them, he has to confront the internal problem of breaking up, and putting his loved ones life in peril.
I’m not about to exaggerate this latest Harry Potter, but straightforwardly, it’s a beautifully crafted movie yet terrifying (in a good way). It is the darkest and thrilling one, as if we are watching a semi-horror fantasy movie. Harry is in the edge of frailty which he can’t escape, and worse yet, he has to fight it without his sole guardian (a.k.a Dumbledore). The 1st half of HDPH clearly describes Harry’s loneliness, and David Yates did a remarkable job to create the ‘empty’ environment (just as the detail description from the book), which is a hollow and empty within a very large area of no one’s land. Even the music score has helped out to build the mood of our fellow escapists.
How close the movie compared to the book? Well, I guess the decision to split the movie into two makes HDHP as the closest you can get as a perfect adaptation. Surprisingly, there is one scene of Harry and Hermione, which I can’t recall from the book, but it should have been in it. I won’t spoil it for you, but that scene is like a mood reliever halfway through the movie, and it was created really sweet (and a good soundtrack also). Another additional and different thing from the book is the final moment in the movie, and do believe me, Yates did a very good decision to cut it right on that moment.
Although it’s rated PG-13, Yates has pushed it to the limit, if you think Half Blood Prince was already the darkest one, you should see this. It will and surely scare out the children (yes, this one contains more blood scenes). The action scenes is intense, especially a very good choreographed scene of the Ministry infiltration by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The opening escaping scene was superb, and we already provided with some shocks with the deaths of the key characters. Another risky subplot is where Ron progressive frustrations toward Harry and Hermione, where it climaxed in a very daring scene where he has an image of both of them kissing and…oh well, see it for yourself (It shows nothing actually, but I gotta admit, it’s hot scene!). Nevertheless, all of these things just show perfectly that the series has grown and matured over the years.
All the three main cast shows their optimal acting performances, while the supporting casts have been outstanding also (most of them are brilliant A-list British stars). Daniel, Emma, and Rupert deserve the praises and acclaim for keeping the continuity of the roles intact for the past decade. Unexpectedly, the character which has the most development is Dobby the house-elf. Frankly, I hated him in the beginning, where he’s just like Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. But in the end, I was impressed by his transformation into a memorable character. By the end of the movie, my loath for him has changed into a bit of tears, I’m sure you’ll end up loving that poor elf.
759 pages of the last chapter, half of it has been magically transformed into an excellent movie. HDHP is brilliant in production quality, superb in story delivery, and what an outstanding cast ensemble. And for all Emma Watson fans (count me in), she has grown up to be an elegant yet beautiful actress (for me, I enjoyed every second of her appearances). HDHP Part 1 has just served us a good appetizer, makes us longing to what kind of main course and dessert they want to serve. I guess it’s gonna be a very long eight months of waiting.
My Rating: 9/10
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