Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1: Review By ParkWilliams

As the Harry Potter series continued it was easy to fear it had hit its peak at The Goblet of Fire or The Prisoner of Azkaban and was just heading downhill from there. As the books continued to get longer and more complex the movies continued to lose certain plot and character elements, leaving them somewhat devoid of their most compelling elements. Not saying they've ever been necessarily bad, but they never realized their potential as adaptations. After the long wait, fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief at The Deathly Hallows Part I. Being cut into two parts has, for part one, been enough to greatly flesh out the story and allow for more room to enhance the tone and dig a little deeper into some of the more nuanced character traits. The deviations from the novel are slight, and, although from the outside the plot may seem boring and/or uninspired, there is great payoff for fans of the series, whether the books or the movies. The lack of plot revision could easily leave newcomers lost, but why anyone would go to this without having seen the others first is beyond me.

Easily the darkest of the series so far, The Deathly Hallows takes on a much different feel than the series has felt in the past, as the overplayed teenage humour and awkward pre-pubescent relationships of the past give way to a compelling, cat-and-mouse style game of life and death as Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn just how far they must go and how much they must sacrifice for the greater good. The tone lends itself well to emphasizing the gravity of its themes and content. It's really a rather depressing story for the most part, but it's presented very well, and it gives a lot of room for the audience to sympathize with the characters.

Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint are just as interesting and entertaining to watch as always, and the series once again continues to deliver well executed supporting characters in both physical presentation and quality performance. The actors do their part well, if a little safe at times, not really branching out farther then they have in the past, but not really needing to either.

Aesthetically stunning and well presented, The Deathly Hallows proves to be a refreshing installment to the series that delivers a compelling plot mostly devoid of action in comparison but carried on the backs of solid character development. The Deathly Hallows Part I is an excellently executed calm before the storm to prepare us for the final battle for Hogwarts.