From the offset, and many know this, I’m not a Harry Potter fan at all, but I do appreciate the huge fan base the franchise has. I’ve never opened one of the books, let alone read one. And I never, EVER will. There’s not too many out there who have never heard of J.K.Rowling’s wand holder and more importantly the kazillions of moolah it has raised not only for J.K. but for Warner Bros. as well.
So, the story this time round goes as follows. Actually, you know what ,I’m not sure. The Deathly Hallows movie is split into 2 parts as it was felt there could be more kazillions made by splitting it into 2 parts. Either that, or if they didn’t split it, the movie might have gone on for 3 days..god forbid. What I did pick up out of the story is that Harry Potter, the ginger kid from Wild Target and that Emma Watson one are on a road trip of sorts which will eventually end in some big epic battle with Lord Volvo-door..or something.
The acting for the main characters, as per past performances is ropey and wooden, with the exception of Rupert Grint, who to his credit is probably the only young ‘un of the group that can act. Bill Nighy, Brendan Gleeson, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter all put in solid enough performances, but nothing that will set the world on fire.
As for the movie itself, well it is quite obvious that a huge amount of time, energy and care (not to mention money) has gone into making this movie. The sets look incredibly impressive and I’d imagine would be as the fans of the books would have envisioned. The attention to detail is fantastic as the movie (which is quite dark in colour and tone) rollicks (at times) along from location to location. As for the set pieces, those that are there are well done and quite realistic and at times quite intense and frantic. And then things slow down a bit as there’s some more dialogue about bobbles and Lord Volvo-door or something.
As a movie on it’s own merit, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part One is ok. Besides some dodgy acting and dodgy pacing, there is a bit of entertainment value here, besides the cringe worthy, was that a boob or not a boob, sex scene. That is of course once you realise that this movie is made for fans of the book. If you’ve never read any of the books, or never seen the past movies you will have ZERO idea of what is going on here. This is not a movie that is for the casual movie goer. Whilst it’s not an ideal idea, having a series recap for 10-15 minutes (which might not be enough, but would help) might go someway to alleviating the confusion for somebody who just wandered in by mistake. That said, it is nice to see Hollywood take great care and attention with a franchise and be loyal to the fans, many of whom have grown up the character, just like he did on screen.
That said, You have got to be a fan on the books and even then, this movie wont’ be as spellbinding and enchanting as it could be. If your a fan go and try and enjoy, if your not a fan, run away….very far away!
