Does its job as part 1, but a horrible movie.

Rating: 5/10 (20 January 2011)

This film accomplishes its goal of setting the stage for the final Potter movie in part 2, but unfortunately this is all it really does. Even when viewed with the emotional history of the previous films/books in mind, and also with the knowledge its only part 1, this is still a bad movie.
The pacing is absolutely terrible. They used 2+ hours to explain basic plot points concerning a single horocrux, the sword, and the origin of the hallows. This is done through an annoyingly repetitive and linear plot structure of Harry finding one thing, to go and find another, to go and find another, to go and find one last thing. Then voldemort finds his own thing and the movie ends.
The plot is filled with coincidences and conveniences. Ron and Dobby randomly appear when they're most needed, and it just generally feels like they tried to take a chunk of the plot from the book and spread it too thin to cover more time. I feel like all the major/minor plot points and character development could have been dealt with effectively in 1 hour.
My final issue with the film is the appalling ending. The last confrontation felt really contrived and lacked buildup, significance, or action. The death of such a minor character as Dobby is really not the way I would end the film. Even with his history in mind, it felt like he just popped up to save the day then died for the sake of trying to tug a few heartstrings. There was a total lack of emotional investment in his death and I didn't feel any sense of immersion in the film when it occurred. In addition, even with Voldemort finding the wand it didn't feel like stuff was about to happen at the end which is what you want from a part 1. They could have literally ended the film at any point during the plot and it would have carried about the same sense of anticipation.
Please keep in mind that I am not considering how accurate it was to the book as a positive or negative thing. This is supposed to be a MOVIE and should therefore be reviewed as a cinematic experience, not just its relationship to the book.
Despite the brutal plot structure and weak ending, there is no way I can rate this movie less than 5 because it did do many things well. The opening scene of flight to the Weasley's left me breathless and was some of the best action I've seen in the entire series. The acting was uniformly excellent as we've come to expect from the gang. Despite the poor settings (forests for everyone!) the movie did manage to impart a general atmosphere of grim hopelessness and I'd say it's the darkest of the series so far. Finally, I thought the animated scene about the hallows was utterly mesmerizing and the best part of the last 30 minutes.
My advice, don't see this in theatres, don't even see it when it comes out on DVD. Wait until part 2 hits theatres and then watch it before you go see that. Because the only way this could ever be a passable movie is when its attached to part 2.