Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Destroying Hocruxes can't be too boring, right?

I just finished the seven Happy Potter books just a few hours before stepping in the cinema to watch this. I'm not comparing book vs. film, but it's nice to note that this film (and maybe also Part 2 together) might be the one of the closest to the books.

In the seventh film of the Happy Potter series, we see Harry set to continue the task Professor Dumbledore left him. With best pals Hermoine and Ron, their journey outside Hogwarts leads them face-to-face with kinds of magic they, or even the members of the Order of the Phoenix, have never known before. But they have to find and destroy the Hocruxes in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

We have loads packed in our tiny rucksacks.

Kudos, of course, to the cast—and this means not just the three leads—because they have all done their part well. Great job especially though to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint who had grown up with their characters. Rupert, who I think as Ron, is so hilarious in the absence of Fred and George Weasley's screen time. Emma has several very fashionable pieces of wardrobe, as Hermoine travels with a small bag with undetectable extension charms. Brilliantly done, mainly so because she has to look good being the only girl in the trio—she looked amazing! And Daniel has grown to be an actor I think we will see more of after the series ends.

I wonder if this top will look good on me? Hmmm.

But as a stand-alone movie, it dragged on for more than two hours without an obvious climax. And this is so because, of course, splitting the plot of the seventh book means splitting the story. And it's only natural to have the climax at the end of the film series which is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I would have waited for the second part and watched them in a marathon for a better movie experience. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, sad to say, elicits not much of a rave as a movie, except that it sets the stage for July next year. That, I expect, will complete the Happy Potter series on a high note. Because no matter how the books were adapted into movies, it's no denying that it's a great epic story. I honestly can't wait for Part 2!


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 gets six out of ten, for staying true to the well-written narrative, being hyped all over, and extending the wait for the very last installment.


P.S. If one's going to argue that an elf's death is a climax-denouement, then I say otherwise. It could have been that for Part 1 if the preceding scenes were treated with heightened emotions, effects, action, music, and what have you. But it doesn't feel so. It was just as it was presented in the book, a sort of subclimax.


*photos from www.listal.com