8 out of 10
It’s about time it got dark. I was honestly waiting for a darker more serious Harry Potter film ever since part 5, and I can honestly and excitedly say, they finally did it with Deathly Hallows Part 1.
So yes, I’d give this movie an eight out of 10 on my scale, and recommend it to anyone who even moderately enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. It moves fast with a lot of momentum, a lot of blink and you might miss something important details, a LOT of call backs to previous movies and shout-outs to book fans, and for a movie that essentially only follows the 3 main leads, it is very engaging. By which I mean the 3 kids have really grown up and gotten some acting chops, and the movie no longer relies on weathered acting veterans to insert the dramatic vibe into the story, Harry Ron and Hermione can carry it all on their own. Which is not to say there weren’t some memorable cameos from favorite characters from past movies, its just that they were only cameos in this film.
Another aspect of the film that I enjoyed that I wish they’d employed all along, is this visual sense of “here’s something from the books on the screen, we’re not gonna explain it, but those who’ve read the books know what it is” – it’s a way of getting a lot more details in the movie from the book without having to go into too much exposition around it, and its a great reward for those of us who read the books.
Other than that, go see the movie, I’m sure it’ll entertain, and I hope I’m not alone in getting even more excited for the final Harry Potter based on the quality of this penultimate film.
NICHOLASGRAFF.com 