A stunning film!

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2010)

I've always been a massive fan of the Harry Potter series, but I felt the series really lost something after Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix and The Half Blood Prince were decent entries to the series, but they felt rather dull and uninspired. Though I found the final act of Half Blood Prince fantastic, and probably the best final half hour of the series. Now, we come to Deathly Hallows part one. My biggest concern with this, prior to the screening was the idea of David Yates directing. I personally find him rather boring, BUT with Deathly Hallows he actually hits the nail on the head. There's some really awkward moments, but overall it's more than a solid entry to the series. The reason I think Yates has made a success of this is because it's so different. It's a road movie. No Hogwarts. No Teachers. No Dumbledore. No safety. It's fantastic.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson really do give their best performances of the series. Plus, we FINALLY get the Harry Potter theme music in an action cue. Something I've always wanted to hear. The first 20 minutes are absolutely delicious, though I would've like to see more of the Dursleys. I always wanted to see the moment where Vernon, Petunia and Dudley come to an understanding with Harry. There's some really brilliant and touching scenes present in Hallows. I especially loved the scenes set in and around Godric's Hollow as well, one of the highlights of the movie for me. I really enjoyed the mini pre-titles sequence, too. Beautifully directed. It was brilliant to see Alan Rickman also, even if it was for a few minutes. Severus Snape is my favorite character in the entire series, and during his entire scene I was sitting with an insane grin on my face. I'm glad to say he didn't feel missed at all, though. The film flowed perfectly. Some reviews I read stated that they found most of the countryside stuff boring. I'm the complete opposite, I actually thought the scenes were a refreshing change from the usual Hogwarts locations. In fact, most of the cinematography was stunning.
Overall, a fantastic entry to the series, one of the best. There was some stuff the film makers decided not to include that bugged me, but they were quite faithful to the book overall, so I'm alright with it. Eagerly awaiting Part Two.