Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

We are a long way from Hogwarts, kids.  In this first part of the Harry Potter finale (Part II arrives in theaters next summer), we are in the midst of a wizarding war.  The Ministry of Magic has fallen to Voldemort's Death Eaters, who are persecuting anyone with a drop of Muggle blood in their veins, Albus Dumbledore is dead, and literally no one - wizards and Muggles alike - is safe. 

Harry Potter has been in danger in some form or another ever since his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but now the stakes have never been higher.  On the run and isolated from everyone who's protected him in the past, Harry and his best friends Ron and Hermione are searching for Horcruxes - magical objects containing pieces of Voldemort's soul.  Voldemort cannot be killed until the Horcruxes are destroyed, but the trio have no idea where these Horcruxes might be.  Or how to destroy them once they are found.  Tensions run high and friendships are tested while they scour the English countryside on this seemingly hopeless mission, the fate of the wizarding world resting on their very young and very frightened shoulders.

Whether or not it was wise to split Deathly Hallows into two parts (this is the first of JK Rowling's phone-book sized novels to be made into two films), as a fan of the books I would have to say yes, simply because Part 1 was probably the most faithful adapation of the series so far.  Director David Yates took the trio's dangerous yet directionless Horcrux quest, which tended to lag in the first half of the book, into the Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter films.  It was great.

Beautifully shot by Eduardo Serra, and brilliantly acted by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, who absolutely shine in this film, you're never made to feel that this two-part finale was simply a Warner Bros cash-grab, which it undoubtedly also was.  It perfectly captured the all-bets-are-off feeling that the book had, where no character seemed safe - in fact, two of them are killed off within the first fifteen minutes of the film - and there was no limit to the amount of horrors that could happen, making this easily the scariest film in the series as well. 

The downside of the split is that even at a 2-1/2 hour running time, it still only feels like half a film.  Even knowing when the split would be going in, the ending was incredibly abrupt.  It was also strange not seeing Hogwarts and some of the familiar characters from the previous films, although a few do make some welcome brief appearances (and we can't wait for your moment of glory in Part II, Neville Longbottom!).  They also have the issue of re-introducing a few characters who haven't been heard from since the earlier films who play an important role in the finale.  Hell, Ron's brother Bill not only makes his film debut, he also quickly needs to explain the werewolf bite scars he has from a sequence that was left out of the Half-Blood Prince film entirely.  

It's hard to gripe about anything that was left out, since we can't be sure it's not being saved for the next film.  I can say that having now seen how certain death scenes were handled in Part 1, I can't even begin to imagine how they're going to handle the emotional wreckage that is Part II. 

Now if you haven't seen the previous films or read any of the books, I'm not sure I'd recommend this film as good starting point (and why the hell would you be starting with this film anyway?).  I just finished re-reading Deathly Hallows a few weeks ago and I watched Half-Blood Prince again last night, and even my head was spinning a little trying to keep track of all of the characters, spells, and places whooshing by in this movie.  But if you are fan, then you need to see it, and get ready for next summer, because Harry Potter is going to be getting one hell of sendoff.