A good film, with good qualities.

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2011)

At the beginning, we see the Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy), setting a grave mood which continues throughout the film (not continuously).
However, this grimness didn't seem to continue throughout the whole film, which I was disappointed about. This, I found, was when Ron (Rupert Grint) left Harry (Daniel Radcliff) and Hermione (Emma Watson) in the first half of the film. Ron was always the grimmest of the trio, with the help of his trusty radio, which always set the mood on edge. Once Ron left, it lost most of the grave mood, which I found disappointing.
The film, as a whole is good, but I found it dragged on a bit. I found that the cause of this was the highly exciting, amazing action scene at the beginning (where they get Harry to the Burrows). I found this scene the most exciting scene of the entire film and with it being so fast paced, you expect the other action scene's to be equally, if not more exciting.
I found that this wasn't the case. The other action scenes were good, the only one equal to the first action sequence was the fight between Harry and Nagini. The action sequence that I thought lacked luster was the foot-chase through the woods. The problem with this scene is that the trio had always managed to fight off a fair few Death Eaters at once, but as soon as confronted with 5(?) snatchers, turn tail and run. I would have liked this scene to have a bigger fight, instead of an occasional spell going off here and there and with no real fight happening. It had potential to be another exciting scene, but it fell short.
The scene's between the action gave us a sense of being alone and the times being full with stress between the characters. The trio often don't talk or when they do, they argue. This brings a sense of tension between them and heightens the feeling that they are alone.
I found three, truly emotional scenes in the film (not just filled with stress and tension). The first of these was when Harry and Hermione arrived in Godric's Hollow. They pair realise that its Christmas Eve, which is always the time for family and friends, but they have no one. And also, we see the grave of Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents. You can see that Harry is upset to finally see the grave of his parents, and Hermione shows that she feels sorry for him. The second one, was where Ron returned. This scene is emotional because it renews Harry and Ron's friendship and trust in each other, and also it is the scene of the destruction of the Horcrux, which tempts Ron into killing Harry. Finally, the third one is when Dobby (Tony Jones) is killed. The final words from Dobby are, "Such a beautiful place it is, to be with friends. Dobby is happy to be with his friend, Harry Potter". This shows us that there is hope and friendship in the world, even as there is death and sadness, a truly powerful scene, in my opinion, the most powerful in the film.
A final note: a good film that followed the book closely. But it dragged sometimes with extended scenes with no dialogue and no excitement, although I understand the reason for them. The film, I felt, lacked in the excitement department. Especially after the two excellent action scenes in the first half of the film (chase to the Burrows, the fight with Nagini) and they raised my expectations of the other action scenes, which failed to deliver. On the other hand, they succeeded spectacularly on the emotional side of the film, living up to my expectations, and going beyond it since David Yates managed to keep the feeling going during the duration of the film.