Released to Theatres November 19th, 2010
We all knew it was coming, as the Harry Potter series has been being turned into movies for about six years now. The final installment is here at last, but the twist is that it had to be broken into two movies because the book is so full of events. Length, despite what people might think, isn’t usually a factor in the breaking of a book into two parts because more often than not most of the length in a book is the filler of the journey, or in this case daily school life. The seventh Harry Potter book however, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a cross-country journey searching for the Horcruxes that could help in their quest to defeat Voldemort. Along the way he learns of a group of items that are incredibly powerful in the wizarding world—the Deathly Hallows.
Enough about the book, though, let’s take a look at the first half of the finale movie. All the old actors and actresses are in, as well as a few new additions and all involved play their parts brilliantly. The script is clever, funny, dark, and well executed. I have yet to be disappointed by the efforts of the cast, crew, and directors behind the Harry Potter movie series. Something some of you may not know that I found quite interesting is that the directors have varied throughout the series. The first two were directed by Chris Columbus, the third by Alfonso Cuaron, the fourth by Mike Newell, and the fifth, sixth and now the seventh by David Yates. I’m not entirely sure I would’ve noticed without knowing, but I have noticed that the lighting in the past few movies has been a bit darker than what it was in the first four. This hasn’t changed in the seventh movie either and I actually think the lighting move lends well to the darker themes the later books carry.
In all honesty the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was quite good. It was, for better or worse, exactly what I was expecting it to be. The ending also left me wanting more and made several people who haven’t read the book quite upset (one guy in the theatre when my dad went to see it yelled, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”) So be forewarned that the ending is a cliff-hanger. If you’re into numbers, the Internet Movie Database gave it an 8.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7.1/10, Metacritic gave it a 69/100, Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5, Daily Express gave it 5/5, and the Guardian gave it a 3/5 (all this information found in a google search or two). The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, and the Guardian are all European papers, so the movie was as well received in its homeland as it was in North America.
In short: it was good so I give it a thumbs up! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you’ve seen it.
I actually saw Deathly Hallows the first weekend it came out. At first, i thought it was really good. BUt then I just saw it as alright, because I felt I knew everything that had happened. However there were little discrepencies in the movie. Harry was actually in hidden form at the wedding in the book, but was shown as himself in the movie. I think the movie was good, but little things screwed it up. I'm very much for keeping the movie as close, if not exact, to the book so I may be reacting a little extreme. ALso, I did recognize the lighting change in the last few movies. I remember Order of the Pheonix specifically just being set in a blue/dull tone. But that may not be a good thing despite the tone of the book. Blue is directly related to sadness, which may lead a bunch of people to feel down when watching the movies. If they feel depressed from the movies then why watch? but i doubt little things like that will really affect the viewers. it is something to think about though. I actually prefer the lighting in the first four. Just because the story is sad doesn't mean we have to see it in that mindset, if that makes sense. haha
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