Harry Potter at its finest

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2010)

In my opinion, this film is perhaps the best in the series yet. The reason is that it took the wind out my sails a lot more than any of the previous films. It deserved its title as being the darkest of the series - it was, without a doubt, incredibly scary. But it was also very real. Gone are the days where it was a story about magic and people learning how to use it.
It has been replaced by a story of war, of fear and escape. Harry, Ron and Hermione are no longer under the protective spell of Hogwarts - now they are out in the real world, where death lurks behind every corner, where even the quietest of hiding spots is dangerous, and where to be caught will mean torture and certain execution. In some ways, the film is comparable to films about war in real life.
And yet, I felt that it also contained a sense of comfort about it - the long scenes in the tent, with only the voices on a radio or the conversation between the three friends under the protective spells Hermione has managed to conjure up. I think the scene which really stood out for me occurred midway through the film, when Hermione, depressed over Ron's departure (and more so because she is wearing the cursed locket) is listening to the radio. Harry hears the song playing and, with perfectly captured tenderness, gently removes the locket from her neck and invites her to dance.
The dance the two perform could not have been done better – a scene of warmth, friendship and innocence set against a backdrop of tension and nervousness in a world where one has to constantly keep looking over one's shoulder for fear that someone could show up at any moment and drag them off to a manor where torture and death is waiting for them. I also think that Ron's encounter with his personal fears hits home. It is in this scene where we see that his true fear is that he is unloved and unwanted, and the thought of Hermione, whom his love for was quite clear even before now, kissing Harry is just too much for him to bear. If anything, the horcrux's ability to bring out Ron's insecurities was what led to its destruction. The scene of Hermione's torture really drove through the message that the film is more than just a children's film now. The pain she endures at the hands of Helena Bonham Carter's character, Bellatrix Lestrange not only shows how evil the Death Eaters and Voldemort's followers are, but it demonstrates just how enduring Hermione really is.
Long ago, Emma Watson's character of Hermione Granger could have come across as an annoying and arrogant swot. But not now. Now we see a character who can endure even the worst of torture and whose audacity, beauty and supreme intelligence make for a character who will last longer than the films or the books. Rupert Grint's character of Ron Weasley, meanwhile, is a far cry from the cowardly right-hand-man. We now see a man of integrity, strength and courage who would trump every sidekick in movie and literary history. But perhaps the best character on the set was definitely Daniel Radcliffe, as Harry Potter himself. In the old days, he was a celebrity who wallowed in the admiration of others, who was young and very innocent. Now we see a wiry and very cunning Potter, with a great strength of mind and integrity like no other. He will not go down without a fight, and who is guided mostly by his own conscience. I don't think there are many heroes who could be considered more admirable.