I have really enjoyed the latter movie instalments of the Potter series and it is somewhat down to the fact that Warner Bros chose to keep the brilliant David Yates on directorial duty. I love his style, he is brilliantly leading Mr Potter down this ever darkening, ever twisted road towards the final battle. The cinematography is beautiful, and it feels like the series is able to finally stretch it legs, as the characters are out of their safety net that is Hogwarts. This film is more cinematic than the others, the three leads are constantly moving to new locations, showing its audience more amazing landscapes and wonderful sets and locations. This move away from Hogwarts also gives the film a bit more realism, you see the three teens out for themselves and they look nervous and vulnerable, there are no teachers to guide them, and dangers are constantly lurking around the corner. The performances are the best they’ve ever been, Emma Watson in particular stands out for me (she’s moved away from the threat of eyebrow acting), Daniel Radcliffe shows more emotion than before, and Rupert Grint is not (so much) just the comic relief.
Now, looking at this as a non-fan, this film may well seem slow in places, the decision to put the last book into two films means that most of the big action scenes won’t be shown until the second half is released in July. This installment is mainly build-up, so two and a half hours for sceptics may feel like a long time, although from a fan point of view less of the book has been cut out so fans can be delighted in seeing most of the book in the film. There are a couple of elements in the film which are not explained, mainly due to them not being included in past films, the character Mundungus Fletcher is a sudden introduction and Harry’s possession of a chard of mirror is not explained (it was given to him by his godfather Sirius Black in the fifth book, as a means of communicating without any magical, outside interference or detection, but Harry unfortunately doesn’t take notice of it until after Sirius’ death) which is a noticeable error for both fans and sceptics alike.
Personally, this is the best film in the series so far, the series has really grown (up) and together with director David Yates and the release of the characters into the world, the film has really bettered itself in pretty much everyway possible. One of the highlights of the film is a wonderful animated piece that tells the story of the deathly hallows, it is beautiful and engaging. There are a few scenes which reflect the character’s growing maturity, some sexual tensions and one (slightly disturbing ) scene featuring Harry and Hermione, as well as some scenes which may scare smaller children, one in particular featuring the spooky character of Bathilda Bagshot.
Being that the main criticism of the this film is that it is a bit slow, I absolutely cannot wait until the second half comes around, as I know what is install and I cannot wait to see all the action kick off onscreen. It will most probably be the better of the two halves, but this first half (especially for fans) is a brilliant edition to the franchise and really works well in the progression of the series. A brilliant set up for the epic finale....can’t wait!!
