Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

For the vast majority of this generation the name Harry Potter means something. It may bring back memories of waiting at midnight at the bookstore for the release of the final adventures of the boy who lived. Or it might remind you of reading that first book, or watching that first movie and being captivated by the young British wizard. Either way, that small lightning-shaped scar has come to be something of great significance to a generation of now mainly adults who have stuck by Harry through and through. So let's set aside the geeky and juvenile connotations that watching a Harry Potter movie may bring up and realize that this is the front half of the last Harry Potter endeavor. The era of Hogwarts is coming to an end.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is such a great cinematic undertaking that the film has been divided into two parts. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 stays true to the book, beginning with Harry's flight from the Dursleys' just days before his seventeenth birthday. The film adaptation includes all the story's highlights: the multiple Harrys and their flight to the Burroughs, the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, the revelation of the identity of R.A.B., the story of The Deathly Hallows and the capture of Harry, Ron and Hermoine. This is evidently where director David Yates and his screenwriter Steve Kloves felt it best to leave us hanging until next July when the final installment is released.

The usual suspects are rounded up in a veritable cornucopia of English actors. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry, Ron and Hermoine. Robbie Coltrane is back as the endearing Hagrid, with Brendan Gleeson as “Mad Eye” Moody and Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. John Hurt continues his long-standing role as the wandmaker Olivander and new faces Bill Nighy and Rhys Ifans join the cast as Rufus Scrimgeour and Xenophilius Lovegood. Evil incarnate is carried out by Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort with Helena Bonham Carter as his female counterpart, Bellatrix Lestrange.

This installment of the Harry Potter series has a dramatically dark atmosphere, taking it definitively out of the realm of children's movies. Surprisingly, the CG effects enhance the viewing experience, from the highly stylized story of the three brothers to the finale, which will have your eyes welling up for that little computergenerated house elf. The pacing of the film make the two-and-a-halfhour run time feel much shorter and manageable. By all accounts, the film ended in an appropriate place for a single story split into two volumes, and although most of us know the story by heart, you will more than likely find yourself counting the days until July.

The penultimate Harry Potter film is absolutely worth watching, even if only to satisfy your 12- year-old self's desire to see the entire story played out onscreen.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars