Spellbinding - worth it in IMAX, too

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2010)

Harry Potter's penultimate film journey is an immediate smash, judiciously mixing mythology, romance, teenage lifestyles, lowbrow comedy, adult themes, and nonstop action into a blizzard of entertainment that really could be conjured up only by a wizard who kicked butt in his or her O.W.L. exam. This first-half-of-the-last-book movie is exceptional and suffers only from a weird shift in tone near the middle of the film.
If you have never read a Harry Potter book, this is not the movie for you to watch. Please don't watch it. You'll spend most of the movie muttering to whomever is closest, asking who these characters are and what are they doing and why are they flushing themselves down toilets (the better to get into the Ministry, my dear), and so on. Face it; you're quite the Muggle and will have no chance of comprehending this movie.
For the rest of you... Well, even if you haven't read the seventh (and final) book, you should be able to follow along. I'll try hard not to spoil anything for you, but some things from the earlier books may creep in, so beware.
The movie begins a few days before Harry's 17th birthday, and the Dudley family is leaving their home out of concern for their own safety. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is to be escorted to The Burrow and live with the Weasely family until the school year begins, but he and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) have another plan: to find the remaining Horcruxes, objects into which the evil Lord Voldemort has spliced parts of his soul (self preservation, you see).
For the first time in the series, the school of Hogwarts doesn't make an appearance. Harry and his pals, under the indirect order of Albus Dumbeldore, need to find these objects before Voldemort gains any more strength; the Dark Lord, of course, is making great headway into running things anyway, what with his Death Eaters and his infiltration of the Ministry of Magic.
As with the rest of the books and movies, there are dual plots. There's the obvious line of the search for the remaining Horcruxes, and there's the subtle look at the way the trio is growing up, wary of their feelings for one another. One of the more remarkable aspects of J. K. Rowling's books is that she tries to accurately depict the lives of average teenagers - even if the teenagers themselves aren't average at all. So here, we see Ron and Hermione grudgingly accepting how much each means to the other, which leads to confusing and conflicting feelings on their parts as well. All normal for teenagers, and all well done.
A word of caution, if you haven't read the book: good people die. Don't ask me who; I can't tell you. But it's the last book in the series, and there are a lot of secondary and tertiary characters - surely not all of them would be expected to make it, right? Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson have been playing their roles for almost a full decade now, and their chemistry is palpable on screen. As usual, they are surrounded by a solid British cast, including Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), David Thewlis (Remus Lupin), Bill Nighy (Rufus Scrimgeour), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), and Alan Rickman (Severus Snape). Each plays his or her part with all expected prowess, but rising above all of them is Mrs. Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the nefarious Bellatrix Lestrange with a maniacal glee that borders on pure insanity. Her eye alone has depth.
Here's the only part of the entire movie that just didn't work for me. There is a long stretch in which our heroes search valiantly for the Horcruxes, and during that time there's a bit of a disagreement, causing one of them to leave the other two. Afterwards, the way the remaining two behave - in one scene - almost justifies the anger of their departed friend, thus shifting the tone a little bit. This isn't in the book at all, and I found it a bit worrisome. Why muddy the waters? It's complicated enough for the characters without more drama for the sake of drama.
The Deathly Hallows, by the way, are magical artifacts, and one of the big questions in the book is whether the three should search for these mythical Hallows or continue to look for the Horcruxes. Doesn't matter much, as they are all intertwined.
Eduardo Serra's cinematography is breathtaking, particularly the first battle scene after Harry leaves the Dudley's house and the battles in the forest and at stately Malfoy Manor. Serra replaced Bruno Delbonnel, who reportedly was afraid he'd begin to repeat himself. But no matter, because the film by no means has a different look or feel than the previous entries (except that the subject matter is even darker, of course).
If you have read the seventh book, you might wonder how this movie ends; where's a good stopping point? Again, I won't reveal that here, but when you see the movie you'll probably agree that it ends appropriately. I mean, this isn't like Back to the Future II, which was cynically used just to set up III; this is a standalone movie that's really supposed to be in conjunction with a companion movie anyway.
As a fan of the Harry Potter books and subsequent movies, I feel that the seventh movie is as outstanding as I expected it would be. Aside from the one strange tonal shift - which is quickly shifted back - there's really very little wrong with this movie, and most people should find it very enjoyable.