The Best Book-to-Film Adaption Makes For the Best Film in the Series

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2010)

When it comes to a film series like Harry Potter, critics and audiences usually have the same expectations for each film released: a formulaic plot, likable but shallow characters, and a story that tends to take a back seat to humor and action. While this is not all that appreciated by fans of the books and critics, this is probably what has kept the Potter film series as enduring as it has, appealing more to mass audiences than hardcore viewers. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" finally breaks this trend and boldly steps away from the action and humor (but don't worry, there's enough to keep the pace up) to give us a much-needed character study of the main trio that has been, mostly, missing since the third film.
Each film in the series can be loosely sorted into a genre of its own: "Sorcerer's Stone" and "Chamber of Secrets" seem to be more children fantasy films, while "Prisoner of Azkaban" has some horror elements. "Goblet of Fire" is a blatant action movie, but "Order of the Phoenix" comes off more as a drama, and "Half-Blood Prince" is definitely a teen comedy. "Deathly Hallows" takes the best of these (particularly the drama, horror, and action) and mixes them together into a truly memorable film, with quite a few scenes that borderline art house quality when it comes to the character moments (and there are quite a few of these moments). Granted, this story has been known by many the world over for the past three and a half years, a story that has been notorious with its amount of downtime between important moments, and David Yates and co. would have been justified in cutting a lot of this out (and there IS some trimming done), but instead, they really take advantage of the slow moments to get us better acquainted with Harry and his friends than we ever have before as a movie audience.
Before I go on, I want to say that I have avidly read all seven books at least twice each and I have really grown up alongside Harry throughout the years (I am eighteen now), so I know exactly how the story plays out. In past installments, I always considered the book-to-film translations to be hit or miss. While splitting the book into two films may have infuriated some, it's now obvious that it was the best decision that the film makers could have gone with. It's truly like watching the the book playing out in front of your eyes and the scope of the story just cannot be told in one film without loosing its power and meaning. Even scenes added on felt naturally weaved into the story, rather than just tacked on like in previous installments (see "Half-Blood Prince"). There's one particular scene when Harry and Hermione share a moment while Ron is away that's nowhere to be found in the book, but establishes that they are like brother and sister, nothing sexual in any way. Moments like this my not be in the book, but after seeing them, you wonder how the story could have survived without them.
If I have one particular complaint about this film, it's the soundtrack. Alexandre Desplat, sadly enough, lives up to the "splat" in his name, bringing in the blandest, most unoriginal soundtrack in the series. John Williams created some very magical, yet haunting, themes for the first three, while Patrick Doyle brought some exciting stuff to the table, and Nicholas Hooper wrote "Fireworks" for movie five. Enough said. Desplat's work feels sorely underwhelming, providing only hints of notes for certain scenes that really needed a blasting fanfare or a somber melody. And above all, it simply does not seem like a Harry Potter soundtrack at all: I kept thinking "I heard that in The Dark Knight/The Passion/The Da Vinci Code/Pirates of the Caribbean." The score offers nothing we haven't heard before, making the news of John Williams' absence from Part 2 all the more painful. This is the one blemish that keeps "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" from getting a perfect ten in my book.
If you are a longtime Potter fan, than you will come out of the theater feeling greatly rewarded. Film critics will appreciate it for its character development, book fans will love it because of how well it translates from the novel, and mass audiences will pay for it due to its thrilling action and clever humor. While the soundtrack may take away a little, it's easy to forget that it's even there and to just enjoy what's unraveling on screen. "Deathly Hallows" is the Potter film that the world has been waiting for and is what many of the previous films should have been.