Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Harry Potter has become something more than just the highest grossing franchise of all time, it has become something more than a phenomenon, and it has become everyday life for a lot of people. Just like waking up and drinking your coffee or smoking that cigarette you shouldn’t, it is just there. No one can deny this, and it is because of this truth you either loathe or love Harry Potter and the whole gang at Hogwarts. I am a fan, took me awhile because I was in the loathe crowed. Then my wife took me to see one a few years back and it stuck like glue. I felt I was getting something more than I did with Star Wars and The Matrix combined, I was getting character. People I care about that aren’t real, that is an investment, and that is why Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is an event film. It clocks in at 146 minutes, and if you’re a potter fan, not one of those minutes is wasted. It is the darkest in the series and Hogwarts is all but a shredded memory. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the run from Voldemort, while at the same time trying to find and destroy the horcruxes, which should eventually kill and destroy him. This if anything is a road movie, everyone shows up and is here and there, but the majority of the film is Harry, Ron, and Hermione camping and trying to figure out the next step. Not to worry if you find that kind of thing boring, you have teen lust and anger to go along with the journey. All of the actors have matured over the course of the decade and the performances we get know are at there peeks, and there best. David Yates as a director has all but took the series to a new high on film, and the memory of Christopher Columbus is well forgotten. I applaud him for being able to pull off the last three movies coherently, I mean the last director to do that in a trilogy was Peter Jackson with that little movie about the one ring. Yet my hat also goes off to Daniel Radcliffe, not only has he moved on from just being a prop in the series (though some critics disagree). He has matured the character to the extent of almost being believable in a false reality that could never really happen in this life. Trust me Harry Potter is not the end of the road for Radcliffe he will be a superstar until the day he passes most likely. Another actor in the series who has become the ultimate villain in cinema besides The Joker is Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. The character has been in all six previous films lurking in the back-round, building his army, popping up here and there, and now he is in full kill mode. Anytime he is on screen, which is very limited, I get the chills of pure evil. If that is the effect the filmmakers have been going for then they surely got the right actor. Still what makes him a little eviler than most is what he plans to do humans (muggles as they are called in the films). He has a whole Hitler vibe to his ambition, a plan I think that would eventually wipe humanity from the map. You cant get deeper than that folks. The other actors like Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange does her villainy well, so do most of the rest of the cast. There is just so many characters to keep up with it can be trying at times, for a non potter fan at least. I really suggest if you are one of the curious but have never took the dive into watching the films, you should start with the first and continue onto the last. Or else you wont know anything about nothing with the plot of this film. The only negative thing I can say about the film is that it does end on a downer, and it really just ends. The bad guys win in this case, and a lot of good folks die. Though not to fear, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out next July, just in time for us to see what the chosen is all about, and I can tell you this, part 2 will deliver the goods.

THE JUDGEMENT CALL: A must see for the holiday season. It is the only movie out there over the holidays that has the children and the adults both excited. It is a win in my book, this series only gets better with each new installment. & if you don’t agree with this review, like my sister, we will say you are just muggle born.