Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Well David Yates has outdone himself here. He split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” into two parts. This would mean that he wanted to put a lot in the films, and all of what he wanted could not be put into one movie. Let’s not waste any more time, let’s get started with Part 1, which was released in 2010.

Our three main heroes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, are now facing the greatest dangers of all. They have chosen not to return to Hogwarts for their last year, and instead decide to go out and help each other hunt down the Horcruxes to defeat Voldemort. What a long ride it has been folks? It seems like yesterday that we saw these three as kids, and now we have seen them grown into adults.

For a film that lasts two hours and 24 minutes, you would get lost on something that was explained before in one of the previous films. Have no worries, there are times when Hermione had to explain something to Harry. The film starts out with the Death Eaters holding a meeting with Voldemort to plot the destruction of our three heroes. Even though Harry had survived multiple attempts at Voldemort trying to kill him, this time it means business.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione move out of their homes, meeting up with some familiar faces. One of them includes John Hurt as Ollivander, the man who gave Harry his wand. Most of the film, the three are in the woods. Either we see them under a tent, or walking through the woods getting away from danger and finding the Horcruxes. They can transport anywhere; they go in the forbidden forests, next to a lake that shines like a mirror by the mountains, and in settings where the rocks have been split by deep cracks. Some of these locations were actually shot in a real area while others are in CGI, but they are unnoticeable, although Roger Ebert doubted if Harry could skip over those cracked rocks if they were real.

The good thing about our three heroes being out in the wild is two reasons. They can easily hide from Voldemort. Ron lives up to his name, and Harry and Hermione become closer friends, confidants, and we even get a glimpse that maybe they are falling in love. Yes, they do kiss each other, and they also have a moment where they are almost nude. Just to let you know, a CGI mist covers up all of their privates.

Bill Nighy appears in this film as Rufus Scrimgeour, who originally joined the Ministry of Magic as an Auror, eventually becoming the head of the Auror office. We don’t really see him play that big of a role since they just go into the Ministry for a little bit. However, the film ends with our heroes speaking with Xenophilius Lovegood, played by Rhys Ifans, who is just as quirky and weird as his daughter, Luna, played by Evanna Lynch. Like father, like daughter, I say.

Part 2, which would come out about 8 months later, must be a very epic conclusion to this great series. It should be the definitive cap where villains die and our heroes celebrate the balance that will be brought to the wizardry world. Like I had mentioned, we saw our three main heroes grow up in front of our very eyes. Hermione has become really attractive, Ron and Harry make a good notice of that, and even Harry has to shave.

A disappointment, but not really something to really nitpick about, is that Part 2 could be seen in 3-D. I personally am not a fan of 3-D, and I never saw any of these films in 3-D, thankfully. Originally this film was supposed to be in 3-D, but thankfully Warner Bros. had decided against it after seeing how other 2-D films looked like when they were converted into 3-D. I would assume that when they were making Part 2 they would make sure that the 3-D was done well and looked great for those who wanted to see it in 3-D. Ebert said, “It will suffer in brightness and clarity, and that is a shame. Look closely at the 2-D opening Warner Bros. logo here and you will swear it's in 3-D.”

Since the series was reaching the end, our three heroes have kept this series going. Along with a huge number of supporting casts, they had those that either had passed away or were no longer needed. I remember that they were planning on changing our stars after either the third or fourth film, but looked like that idea was scrapped since these three are so loveable.

Unlike all of the previous films, these last two will be the darkest chapters in the series. With the thrilling chases in the woods, up close shaky cameras, and thrilling uses of the wand and other materials, it looks like an all-out war that will be built up for Part 2. Much like how we saw in the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, the same thing will be done here.

How will Part 2 be? Will it be a buildup that will satisfy Harry Potter fans? Or will they be faced with a disappointment? Find out tomorrow in the epic finale to my “Harry Potter-a-thon.”