Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know there’s a new Harry Potter movie out. And unless you’ve been under that rock for the past year or so, you know that this is only the first part of the final Harry Potter saga.
The movie opens with new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimegour (Bill Nighy), warning the populace to remain vigilant. As he speaks, we see Hermione with her parents, Harry watching the Dursleys leave Number 4 Privet Drive and Ron staring into the distance outside the Burrow. This sequence finishes with Snape arriving at Malfoy Manor, where Voldemort’s Cabinet is meeting. Snape informs Voldemort that something’s going to happen on Saturday. After Voldemort is satisfied with Snape’s intel, he kills the heretofore unseen Muggles Study professor. Alan Rickman (Snape) and Tom Felton (Draco) should be commended for their acting in this scene—Snape keeping a schooled expression on his face, Draco showing he cared about the professor.
At Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry bids adieu to the closet underneath the stairs—his old bedroom. A small party arrives to take him to the Burrow. It is here we meet Bill Weasley (played by Brendan Gleeson’s, Mad-Eye Moody, real-life son). An exhilarating chase sequence ensues as they race for the Burrow. At the Burrow, Bill marries Fleur and happiness enters the movie for a brief period. But the happiness ends with news that the Minister of Magic is dead and the Ministry has been invaded. Harry, Hermione and Ron flee the party.
As they regroup in a London café, the three friends begin the race against time and Voldemort, running for their lives. Harry is desperately trying to find the remaining Horcruxes, whose destruction will aid in the defeat of Voldemort. Along the way, Harry faces new dangers and the trio faces trials to their own wills. Their friendship undergoes some of their hardest tests in this movie as well. As the movie reaches its climax, Harry learns of the Deathly Hallows—supposedly mythological items given to three brothers by Death. These could tip the scale in favor of Voldemort and the movie ends there.
The place the filmmakers opted to split the movie was the logical one in my opinion. The first part has its own climax but appropriately builds up to the second part. I myself was curious how they would fit in the wedding considering Bill was never introduced, but they did it well. The film’s lighting continues to be dark, just as it has been since Prisoner of Azkabahn. The cinematography is beautiful and the locations the trio travels to in order to avoid detection are breath-taking. Though there were a few bits in which the camera switched to a Blair Witch style shooting and, on the IMAX screens, it led to a few of us getting dizzy.
The actors have really matured, both physically and as actors. From a shallow perspective, some of the male actors have become handsome young men—namely, the Phelps twins (Fred and George Weasley). Though my friend made a comment after the movie that I had to agree with—Daniel Radcliffe took his shirt off many times during the movie. It would seem that since he bared all for Equus a few years back, he had no problem anymore taking it off. But his acting skills have vastly improved over the seven movies and I can’t wait to see how he handles the intensity needed for part two.
The challenge of this movie was that the trio—Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint—carry it more than in the past. A few supporting players return in part one, including David Thewlis (Remus Lupin), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Natalie Tena (Tonks), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy)—just to name a few. Though brief, Neville gets an appearance in part one as well. But the movie doesn’t suffer from the focus being mainly on Harry, Ron and Hermione. The young actors have bright careers ahead of them and this movie proves it.
When the credits started to roll, most of us in the theater wished we could immediately move on to Part 2. Part One was an excellent addition to the Harry Potter opus. The summer cannot come soon enough!
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