In a Nutshell: "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1" (8/10)

Rating: 8/10 (8 December 2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1..."These are dark times, there's no denying"
If you read around and check out reviews on The Deathly Hallows, you'll see that the most predominant theme of the hype about this film is anticipation. Literally, the most redundant keyword in the first paragraph of any article, any review or any news report is the word "Finally". HP7 is tagged in its trailer as the finale of the worldwide phenomenon, the motion picture of a generation. Needless to say, it is one of the best selling stories of all times. Bottom line is, like the movie or not, it made over 300 million dollars in the first few days, and judging by how things look, this should be just a tiny fraction of its coming success.
As a result of the intense criticism on the last three Potter movies for not being worthy of the books, David Yates and Warner Bros. had to spread the finale on two long films; a decision leading to an utter cinematic and commercial success. And since the fans can't get enough, you can always give them some more on the boy who lived, the chosen one and his magical adventures that have become the prevailing obsession of millions around the globe.
The gloominess of the opening scene and the dramatic dose you get from the film's first lines spoken by Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) tell you all about what you're in for; a journey of darkness, a daring quest of the good to defy the evil, a hopeful adventure shadowed by blood, love, tears and death. After the sad ending of late Dumbledore, it is now Harry's mission to find and destroy all the horcruxes that shield Lord Voldemort from death. As Potter accompanies his lifetime mates Ron and Hermione through their ultimate journey, they stumble across some of the most significant and powerful secrets of the wizarding world, the deathly hallows.
When you watch The Deathly Hallows Part one, you'd only wish they did the same with at least the last two books; split them in two. God knows how many scenes and characters had to be knocked out to fit in something like The Order of the Phoenix in one movie. This time they fill it in with details that even book readers may have forgotten about. The events go on sort of an inverse bell curve scenario; it starts off exhilarating and thrilling, it mellows down a bit in the middle and then it gets all fired up towards an ending that comes very quick.
It is safe to say that behind the scenes aspects, of making a movie, all played out quite well in this one. We've seen more sophisticated cinematography and art direction in previous episodes of the saga, but this still does have its eye catching moments as well. Acting, however, has evidentially elevated quite a bit here. An obvious reason for that is the age of the main three characters that have grown in shape and experience through ten years of shooting. But it is not to be ignored that Emma Watson is the one that stands out this time; her character's confusion of emotion, determination and humour were damn sure not easy to be portrayed as good as she did.
We've also seen something new to the saga in this one, and it was indeed some of the most amusing three minutes of the whole thing, an actual animated short. The tale of the three brothers narrated by Hermione plays back in a shadow, puppet- like animated sequence, that is just pretty entertaining.
In a nutshell, The Deathly Hallows Part one is merely is a lengthy introduction to the ultimate climax of this masterpiece of a story. It's truly beyond me how J K Rowling is not yet up for a Noble Prize in Literature. This film paves quite the road to what's coming ahead, and looking at that combo trailer, it gonna be quite fun. It will feel at the end as if someone has switched the TV off in the middle of your movie. You will really want some more. Too bad you'll have to wait another eight months for it.