Perhaps Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is half of one good film, but as a standalone feature it is decidedly tedious. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour camping trip with each scene fading to black as if to make time for commercials selling us the designer threads Harry, Ron and Hermione are sporting as they rough it in the woods of the wizarding world.
This first installment in the final chapter of the Harry Potter film franchise only seems to prove what we knew all along, splitting the seventh book in J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series was purely a money grab. While the story sticks close to the book’s narrative, with a few added pieces here and there, it almost seems as if director David Yates decided to make this film two-and-a-half-hours long instead of the hour it should have been only to give audiences the feeling as if they had seen a complete film when in fact they haven’t. Not by a long shot. I’m as much a fan of the Harry Potter franchise as the next person, and as a fan I don’t appreciate being cheated out of seeing something interesting only so a movie studio can add more money to their coffers.
Picking up almost immediately after the first film ends, we find Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) being shuttled around by friends and allies in an attempt to keep him hidden from the evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his nasty clan of Death Eaters. Voldemort’s influence has found its way into the wizarding world’s highest ranks and his final battle with Harry Potter is inevitable.
Meanwhile, Harry and his two best friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) set out to find the final five Horcruxes (pieces of Voldemort’s soul) and destroy them in an attempt to weaken him so he can be destroyed. This is the journey we follow for the majority of the film and for the most part it involves watching the infamous trio camping in the woods, hiding from “Snatchers” and plotting their next move, which is more likely to come to them by happy accident rather than any manner of logical decision making or thought process. Though there are moments were you’re asked to believe otherwise.
What’s odd is I can remember reading everything seen in this film and not being bored for a second, but watching it on the big screen became an exercise in patience. Yates seemed determined to fatigue the audience to the point we’re just as bored as the characters we are watching. Then, when a moment of action does come about it seems to happen within a blink of an eye and before you know it we’re once again sitting around the campfire hoping something exciting will happen again soon.
Admittedly, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is good, it’s really good. The Malfoy’s house elf, Dobby, had a significant role in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and he’s back again in this film with special effects that would have you believe he’s a living and breathing creature. His scenes are excellent and I’d say even more affecting than they were in the book.
The core trio of actors has also come to a point where they are these characters. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger respectively and they seem to have reached a level of believability in themselves. Grint in particular stands out as having an excellent understanding of his character’s need for comedic timing and self-pity. He’s a good example of an everyman’s hero and he brings balance to the story and much needed laughs as the world of Harry Potter looks like the aftermath of the Apocalypse.
Stuart Craig has spent the last ten years working as the production designer on the Harry Potter films and he’s put together a design that looks just as much like The Road or The Book of Eli as it does a Harry Potter film. The menace is certainly there and this is far from the kid’s flick the first few were. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is rightly rated PG-13 and parents that take their young ones to see it shouldn’t be surprised if it causes them nightmares.
Muggles (non wizarding folk) are tortured and Voldemort’s pet snake, Nagini, proves to be quite hungry and quite the master of disguise. And in his fleeting appearances, Voldemort shows just how nasty he can, and will, be.
In all honesty, it feels wrong to even review or grade this film on its own, because it clearly isn’t a standalone feature. As half of one large, five-hour event Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I may very well be excellent, but as one film with eight months between it and its conclusion it just doesn’t work. It’s upsetting to say the least when you get to the end only to realize you’ll have to wait eight more months to finish the story. The end of Part I is hardly a satisfactory close to what their trying to sell as a singular story. It truly feels as if reels were forgotten as the credits begin to roll.
I have no doubt in my mind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will be excellent once it hits theaters in July 2011, thanks primarily to the fact the tedium of Part I is out of the way. I actually hope the next time I see Part I is two-and-a-half-hours before I see Part II. This story was clearly meant to be told as a whole, and not as two halves. My grade on this one half reflects that and I hope my opinion changes once I see the completed project.
