Flicks review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Grade: B+

Cheryl Hann, Staff Contributor 

The end is near — sort of.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1), is one half of the epic two-part finale to J.K. Rowling’s beloved series. In print, there is no part two, but the bigwigs at Warner Bros know a jackpot when they see one.

The film, which came out last Friday, is currently the biggest movie in the country. And why not? It comes jam-packed with lots of action, just enough magic, and plenty of  “Gee, I hope part two comes out tomorrow.”

The latest installment sees Harry, Ron and Hermione cast out of the loving arms of Hogwarts and into the cold, dark, rapidly deteriorating muggle world. Much of the film is spent on the outskirts, in some of the most stunning exterior locations I’ve ever seen (though I’ve since heard that many of those locations were enhanced with CGI). The landscapes do well to serve the movie’s themes: hopelessness, frustration, and the very real fact that the future may be just an empty void.

Deathly Hallows is much darker than the last Potter film, and (thankfully) focuses less on teen drama and more on the all-important battle between good and evil. The problem is, it also focuses too much on explosive, blockbuster action. In one scene, our heroes get ambushed, and for all the exploding drywall, director David Yates might as well have replaced the wands with Smith and Wessons. The worst part is all that action builds to something that’s not even coming until part two. In this way, the film leaves you feeling a little unsatisfied.

But, it’s not all bad. There’s a pretty amazing animated sequence that tells the tale of three brothers and their encounter with Death. The story of the Deathly Hallows has a moral: when Death comes for you, there’s no escape, and it’s better to greet Death as a friend than as an enemy.

Hopefully the final chapter of the Potter saga takes its own advice and dies with dignity. We, Warner Bros included, will be sad to see it go, but hey: there’s always DVD sales.