Hermione and Ron are back in center stage. Yates created another tight movie, faithful to the book and intelligible to even non-Potter fans or Potter newbies.

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2010)

David Yates is definitely the savior of the Harry Potter films. He brought magic back to Harry Potter in The Order of the Phoenix. The Half-Blood Prince was also very well done although it included only half of the book. It was obvious that at least from the third book, each book needed two films each.
In all the books, while Harry Potter is the title role, there are three lead characters - Harry, Ron and Hermione. But from the third film, the Ron and Hermione characters increasingly faded into the background. The directors really had no choice. They had to choose only a certain plot and subplots. They also have to accommodate the other characters, especially the stars who agreed to be part of the film.
The presence of established actors in a film also attract moviegoers. I probably wouldn't have gone to see the first Potter film if all the actors were unknown. The presence of Richard Harris, Dame Maggie Smith, Kenneth Branagh, Julie Walters and others convinced me that it must be a credible film to watch. The addition of good actors like David Thewliss, Helena Bonham Carter, Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson and Ralph Fiennes made the subsequent Potter films more interesting to watch. Unfortunately, by the fifth film, no established actors were added and those that remained were given hardly any screen time. Evidently, the producers felt that they didn't need any new movie-goers. The Potters fans are enough to make the films blockbusters.
Finally accepting the fact that the later Potter books need a 4-hour film or a 2-part film, the producers decided to make The Deathly Hallows a 2-part film. Thank Heavens!
With enough screen time on hand, Yates was able to bring back Hermione and Ron into center stage, as what Rowling intended to in the first place. Unfortunately, the others were merely glimpsed upon. (Why was John Hurt there?)
But I must say, Yates need not add more to the book. Snapes (Alan Rickman) was shown walking through closed gates. I didn't know he could walk through steel gates or walls. Only the ghosts of Hogwarts could do that. Besides, he was given such a great entrance yet totally forgotten in the rest of the film.
I found the film a bit low key. There was not much action; or if there were, they were so abrupt. There were times when the director seemed to be such in a hurry - not giving enough time for the actors to react or the scene to coagulate, as it were. Yet there were times when there was really nothing going on. For the first time in the series, there were moments that I thought the film dragged. I suppose Yates is keeping all his guns for Deathly Hallows Part 2, the very last of the Harry Potter saga.
Yates created another tight movie, faithful to the book and intelligible to even non-Potter fans or Potter newbies.