Once again, a lot of sparks, but no substance

Rating: 4/10 (5 December 2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1, is the 7th film of the series, and I have to say it is the best one so far. All the sets, clothes, special effects and actors are great once again, and there was a little improvement on the script and on the direction, which makes this film a little less clumsy than the first six. Also, since they decided to split Deathly Hallows in two movies, that gives them plenty of time to tell the story, and they remain more faithful to the events of the book than ever.
However, that does not a good movie make. The events may be there, but the soul of the book is missing. There's none of the humor, suspense or drama that jump off the pages, and the only emotion the movie is able to induce is sleepiness. For anyone who hasn't read the books, the movie is incomprehensible and utterly boring. And for those who have, the only way to stay awake is remember how the scenes played when J.K Rowling wrote them, and not Steve Kloves. All those poignant moments – Hedwig dying, the trio entering the Ministry, Ron leaving, everything that took place in Godrics Hollow, Ron coming back, the events on the Malfoy Manor, the death and burial of Dobby, everything – are reduced to scenes that merely make you shrug or grimace.
It's too bad J.K. Rowling didn't wait a few years before she let Warner Brothers adapt her books. That way, maybe the director and screenwriter could have been actual fans, people with a real understanding of the series who would be able to capture the atmosphere of the source material. I guess now we'll have to wait a few decades for the remake.