Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman
Director: David Yates
Runtime:2 hr. 27 min.
PG-13 For some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images
How the world has darkened for young Harry Potter. The boy has always had a painful past, though previously offset by the wonders of the wizard world and the possibilities it offered. Now, however, the wonders have been overshadowed by Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic is now ruled with an Orwellian fist, and our three young heroes find themselves on the run.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" is the final story in the Potter saga, and the third film in the series directed by David Yates. Of the Yates-directed movies ("Order of the Phoenix" and "The Half-Blood Prince" were the others), this one is, for me, the most interesting due to its more deliberate pace. I was skeptical when I heard the final story was being split into two movies, but it turns out to be a wise move. The separation gives director Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves a chance to decelerate the narrative a bit, focus more on the characters... what they're feeling, what they're facing, and how they choose to deal with the gravity of their situation. One of the criticisms I had of the earlier Yates films was that they felt a little too rushed; too eager to put their top-notch visual effects on display. Some viewers may find parts of "Hallows" dragging but I, for one, enjoyed the movie's resistance to speed to its climax. Yates' previous Potter films were technically well-made, but the emotion felt sifted from the stories.
I have read the books by J.K. Rowling, but judging a movie based on how it does / does not differ from the literary source material upon which it is based is a rather pointless task, as two different mediums will always find alternate ways to tell a similar story. Avid readers will forever consider the books better, so let's just focus on the movie here.
As the story opens, the rift between wizards and muggles has never been greater, resulting in Harry's adoptive family to leave town for their own safety. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), aided by "Mad-Eye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and a slew of ever-increasing supporters, is set on the run from Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Our heroes are forced to leave behind all familiarity and safety. (In a scene of subtle poignancy, Hermione casts a spell that removes her smiling face from all her family pictures.)
They find safe shelter at the Weasley home, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione are soon discovered by the Death Eaters, and forced to flee again. (Strange that our leads always seem to take refuge at the Weasley home every time something goes wrong, yet the villains constantly struggle to locate them. You'd think the Eaters would eventually just camp out there and wait for their prey to arrive.) The remainder of the film follows our protagonists as they struggle to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes using clues left by the late Albus Dumbledore, thereby restoring the world of witchcraft and wizardry to its original glory.
The freshness, of course, is and has been missing from the later films in the series, though that's perhaps an unfair criticism. It is, at least to some degree, to be expected. Gone is the wonder and the romanticism of the wizard world. There was always something somewhat lovely about the notion of a wand choosing a wizard. Here, though, wands are wielded like revolvers in a Western. (There's a fight scene in a coffee shop that's eerily reminiscent of a good ol' Western shoot out.) I also miss the way the presence of Lord Voldemort was handled in the earlier films... never spoken of, always referred to as He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. It gave the character a larger-than-life evil aura, thereby making the moment he finally did show up on screen surprisingly intense. As Voldemort, Fiennes has a limited amount of screen time here, but his character is presented in a much more ostentatious, less mysterious form. (There's a scene early on where he circles a table occupied by nervous, trembling minions, conjuring up images of Robert DeNiro's Al Capone in "The Untouchables.")
Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint do a decent job playing characters not only navigating a grueling emotional road but battling raging adolescent hormones as well, as Ron grows jealous of Harry and Hermione's friendship. Rupert Grint, God bless him, does everything he can to bring depth and dimension to his character's insecurity, but he has one of those unfortunate comic relief faces that evokes chuckles even in the most dire emotional state.
Overall, I enjoyed "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I." Yates seems to be getting more comfortable with the series, and he does bring a unique visual style to the table. One of the best scenes involves a virtuoso animation as Hermoine recounts the story behind the Deathly Hallows. The beloved Dobby also makes his return here, and while at first he does seem like a clunky CGI effect, it's kind of amazing how much the little guy has gotten to us by the film's conclusion. The production design is quite striking as well. Some of the landscapes that stretch beneath the feet of our heroes are so desolate, the movie seems to be channeling Cormac McCarthy.
All in all, it's a decent lead-in to what should be a satisfying conclusion.
* * * 1/2 out of * * * * stars
