Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. Wow, that's a mouthful. Henceforth, in this blog or otherwise, I shall call it HP7.1. See how much easier that is?
Now, of course, the standard spoiler alert is required. If you haven't read the book.....if you haven't seen the movie......if you choose not to pay attention......if you don't want to read any further......so be it.
(Pause five seconds to let those that don't want to be here leave.....maybe they could go look at Google News or something).
Now that I have your attention, I shall simply state that HP7.1 was a terrific film. Worthy of the other titles in the series and I cannot wait to see the culmination of ten plus years of film making once HP7.2 is released in May.
The movie draws you into the story almost immediately and just as quickly drags you into the action as well. People are injured. People die. And chaos rules. But then again, this isn't your older sibling's Harry Potter anymore. No. HP7.1 is full of darkness. Almost from the beginning when we see Severus Snape make his way to the home of Lucius Malfoy to meet with the Dark Lord and his minions, there is darkness about.
The production team did a good job a framing evil in black and gray tones and the good guys in more whites and greens. But that's standard also when discerning good from evil. The way HP7.1 does it, though is very good.
In spite of the darkness and the bleakness that is brought upon the movie, there are still moments of humor and light heartedness. From an injured George telling his family that he's saint like because he's "holey" (having had his ear severed. Or the six Harry Potter lookalikes making snide remarks to Harry before they venture out on a life and death mission.
One of my favorite parts of the film, and again, this has to go back to the production team, is when Hermione is reading the story of The Three Brothers from Tales of Beetle the Bard. The animation that is done during this sequence is phenomenal and though it was more than likely done by computer, it is impressive that it could look so genuine. That sequence helps tie the story of the Deathly Hallows together and giving Harry the sense that the story is true. He only comes to understand that later, though and we'll see in HP7.2 just how he goes about using that knowledge for his own safety.
HP7.1, the penultimate chapter in this history making saga is wonderful. And even though I didn't review it when I first saw it in the theater, that does not diminish my admiration for it. It's nice to see the "kids" grow into real actors now and see how they handle such heavy material and responsibility. These movies are on their shoulders now. No longer can they rely on the entirety of Who's Who in British Film helping them out. And yet, they did.
Amazing film. Go buy it. And just for fun, the week that HP7.2 comes out, watch each Harry Potter movie, one per night and go see HP7.2 and enjoy the world of Harry Potter, for after July, there will be no more movies. There could be stories (and I'm not just talking the fan fiction), but there will be no more movies. I hope that in twenty years Hollywood doesn't decide it needs to "reboot" this series like they are doing with everything else right now. That would be blasphemy.
Until next time.
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