A tease, as expected. Also quite good, as expected.

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2010)

I was prepared to be disappointed with this movie, but I resolved to see it anyway. I'm a completeist—I've read all seven Harry Potter books, and I plan to see all eight Harry Potter movies. I steeled myself: "Just get through it—the final one will be GREAT." Well, I'm kind of disappointed that I wasn't disappointed. After all, the final book in the series is definitely not one of my favorites, and I knew the almost total absence of Snape, Dumbledore, and Hogwarts would certainly diminish this film. What we're left with is Harry, Hermione, and Ron on the run for almost the entire film, with prolonged cameos by heretofore minor characters. But what this set-up does (and more effectively than the book does, I might argue) is foreground the relationship among these characters and how it has evolved throughout the series. There is nothing childish about their complex entanglements with each other, and the intensity of their performances (especially Rupert Grint's) is very impressive. The film is, by necessity, incomplete—the conclusion is more like a dramatic pause. And yes, the entire thing is one huge tease—but it's the best kind of tease, because you know there'll be a great payoff well worth the waiteven if it is seven months away.