Potheads should be happy.

Rating: Null/10 (18 November 2010)

For the first part of the seventh film about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, potheads might feel a little smarter as the intrepid trio is getting older and a tad wiser themselves. For me, a cynic about any series going beyond three, I was pleased to see Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Wattson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) pursuing death with a vengeance and doing some philosophical reflecting. In fact, it is as much an affirmation of life as it is obsessed with death.
Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is so strong now that Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic are under his power. The trio tries to find and destroy Horcruxes, which are shards of his soul, so as to destroy him. The usual explosions, magic horses, and all sorts of wild things inhabit the landscape as they have in the past six episodes.
What's slightly different here is that sex and death are major players, and not necessarily in that order. Sex to the extent that the stirrings of the three teens are a constant challenge with Ron on the losing side (at least the pubescent longings of the sixth have passed, a virtue unknown to the Twilight series). Death to the extent that they seek the Dark Lord's death and acknowledge parents' passing as well as those who die so Harry may live.
Director David Yates still stretches scenes beyond what even Rowling may have envisioned, and he still fails to enliven Harry beyond his constantly benign befuddlement. But this time he has given depth to characters commensurate with their growth and intelligence.
No magic there, just living.