The beginning of the end..

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2010)

¨The Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever made, the Resurrection Stone, the Cloak of Invisibility. Together, they make the Deathly Hallows.¨
The Harry Potter series is finally coming to an end after ten years and The Deathly Hallows promises to be an exciting conclusion to the franchise. Producers correctly decided to divide the movie in two parts in order to remain as faithful as possible to the book and not leave minor characters out of the story like they had to do with the other films. It is hard to review a movie that is actually only halfway through the story, but the first part of The Deathly Hallows was exciting and captivating. The 140 minutes flew by real fast and even though the film had an inconclusive ending I still enjoyed the ride and can't wait for the final farewell. I think this is one of my favorite films of the franchise as the characters continue to mature over time. It has been a thrilling ride as these heroes have grown to be a part of us and this movie is more about them than the actual story or the special effects. We've grown up with these characters and they have come a long way from The Sorcerer's Stone. The series has also grown much darker over time, and The Deathly Hallows goes one step further from the very beginning with the snake scene. This was director David Yates third straight Harry Potter film (and he also directed the second part which will be released in January). Once again Steve Kloves does a great job with the adaptation of the screenplay of J.K. Rowling's novel. Fans of the series won't be disappointed and will be in line waiting for the premiere of the final chapter to say farewell to such beloved characters that have been a part of us all these years.
The movie picks off right where The Half Blood Prince left us. Dumbledore is dead, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is searching for Harry Potter along with his crew, and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is on a journey to try to destroy the seven horcruxes with his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) before it is too late and Voldemort becomes too powerful. The task of finding and destroying these horcruxes isn't an easy one, as Voldemort's people are everywhere searching for him along with snatchers, and Dumbledore hasn't told Harry where these pieces are hidden. Along their journey they will discover the legend of the three deathly hallows (hence the title): the elder wand, the resurrection stone, and the cloak of invisibility that will make the possessor of these three elements master over death. There are several new characters introduced in the series and some old ones appear and they all end up playing a key part in this seek and destroy journey. Just be warned before you see this movie, don't expect a conclusive ending because this is only the first part of the story and the film leaves us at the halfway point. But I think the producers did a good job at finding the correct spot to put a pause on The Deathly Hallows before the second part finally comes out.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have grown so much professionally with the Harry Potter films. They have become great actors and one only needs to see the first Potter film (The Sorcerer's Stone) and compare it to this last installment in order to see how much they have matured. These three kids have literally grown right in front of our eyes over these past ten years and I have to admit that they have done a tremendous job keeping pace with such great actors in this series as Ralph Fiennes, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Robbie Coltrane, and Gary Oldman. The Deathly Hallows does a great job of recognizing the success of the franchise in that it is a character driven film and we get a lot of that in this seventh movie. The main difference between this movie and the rest is that it doesn't take place in Hogwarts and we get a lot of varied locations. Since the movie is divided in two parts we also get a lot more details and background stories which made the ride a lot more enjoyable as well. The scene were Lovegood tells Harry about the deathly hallows is great. That short animated sequence could very well compete independently for best short animated film and easily win the Oscars because it was just brilliant. I really enjoyed this first part of the final chapter of the series and am looking forward to the final part. I really don't know who I hate more for now: Lord Voldemort or Bellatrix Lestrange because they have both done tremendous jobs as villains. Director David Yates has done a great job at bringing the world of Harry Potter to the big screen once again.
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