I know that it’s been quite a while since I’ve written in this space and part of it has to do with a lack of ambition on my part to review movies that I’ve seen recently and part of it stemmed from the fact that the last movie I reviewed (Inception) was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I have ended my self-imposed exile to review the seventh movie (out of eight) to bear the Harry Potter name; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Before I delve too deeply into this movie, I should digress and say a few words about the series as a whole. I have read all 7 books multiple times and they are wonderfully written, some of the best books I’ve ever read. The most brilliant thing that author JK Rowling did is she wrote them to cater to an audience that was roughly the same age as the principal characters and this can be seen in the general tone of each book as well as the way each book ends.
Again, I have to say it…
SPOILER ALERT!
One more disclaimer before I get going, while some would say that these movies are worse if you’ve read the books, I say they are better because then you have an inkling of what is going on. However, if you don’t read the books and see all the movies, that will provide enough of a backstory that you can follow along.
In the first book, the three principal characters (Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley) are 11 years old, and you can tell by the way the book is written that that is Rowling’s target audience. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we are introduced to the fanciful world of magic which is mostly fun and games and learning to fly on a broomstick and so on and so forth. We do find out some detail about the reason Harry Potter is so famous in the Wizarding World but many of the details are left out.
Even as the first book reaches its climactic end, which includes a showdown that Harry should be woefully unprepared for, it still doesn’t feel like he’s in all that much danger. Sure enough, the first book ends with Potter victorious and the reader (and viewer for the movie version) feeling upbeat and happy.
The second book has a very similar feel to it, although the final showdown is a bit more disturbing. In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the filmmakers went for a darker look and feel to the movie, both literally and figuratively. It is the story about the first man ever to break out of the Wizarding prison, Azkaban, after committing mass murder to get into prison (the movie only mentions one murder but in the book the total was 13). After escaping, he sets out to come after Harry and given his reasons for imprisonment, this causes everyone a lot of angst. Again, in the end, there is a decidedly happy resolution and it feels again like although Harry comes close to brushing shoulders with evil, he misses it yet again. At this point the principal cast and audience are 13 and that is when Rowling decides to change everything. Also, up until this point the movies have been quite faithful to the books. Yes, there have been differences but they were more along the lines of characters A, B, and C being involved in a scene when in the book it was A, B, and D. Unfortunately, this trend did not continue.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a true tome, reaching 734 pages in length. To give you a little perspective, The Lord of the Rings was roughly 1,000 pages (give or take, according to my best recollection) and was made into about 10 hours of movie. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire went from 734 pages to two hours. They focused on the tournament which took place over the course of a year and disregarded all the day to day activity which was very good and also provided an excellent backdrop to the action sequences. Ironically, even though this was the first movie to leave out significant portions of stuff, to date it is the highest rated Harry Potter movie according to my ranking system. Mostly, it made up points in the audience section, where it is beginning to appeal to a larger fan base, and acting, where the principal cast is older and therefore better at acting and where they added a few choice people to the cast who were nothing short of fantastic.
This was also a point in the book and movie series where the tone completely changed. Up until this point, everything was happy at Hogwarts and no matter what odds were stacked against Harry, he always seemed to have the proper help lined up to help him get through it and at the end of the day, everything was going to be alright.
At the end of the fourth book, Harry Potter’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort, who hasn’t been seen in the Wizarding World for 13 years, returns to human form in full possession of his extraordinary magical ability and evil. Where the first three books end with Harry victorious and reveling in victory with his friends, this one ends with a feeling of despair after Harry witnesses a classmate being murdered, dueling with Voldemort and barely escaping, and then surviving another murder attempt by a deranged bad guy impersonating one of his teachers.
Yes, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Next was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and while this was one of my favorite books in the series, the movie did a terrible job of living up to it. If you’re planning on watching all the movies in the series save one, this is the one to skip.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a decent adaptation of the book, although in true Hollywood fashion, certain sequences were changed in order to make it a more interesting movie. The general audience trend continues though as this movie isn’t terribly appropriate for small children and the themes and storyline become more and more appealing to older and older audiences, including more violence and romantic themes than in the previous films.
And so, after those 1,000 words of drivel about six movies (I hope you at least skimmed it), we’ve finally reached the entire point of this post, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
RATING: PG-13 FOR SOME SEQUENCES OF INTENSE ACTION VIOLENCE, FRIGHTENING IMAGES AND BRIEF SENSUALITY
In short, this is the perfect rating for this movie. Children should not see it unless their parents are 110% sure they can handle it. You have to realize that at its (almost) deepest level, right above the struggle between good and evil, this series of books and movies is about a man who is middle aged in the Wizarding World doing nearly everything he can to kill a boy. Children should be exposed to such themes with caution.
AUDIENCE
CHILDREN – 4
YOUNG MALE – 7
YOUNG FEMALE – 8
ADULT MALE – 7
ADULT FEMALE – 8
While I don’t recommend this for children, it is a good action movie that will appeal to people of all ages.
GORE – 8
ROMANCE – 8
One of the things that is brought up often in the last two or three books and movies is the war that is in the background and moving towards the foreground and the lives that that war stands to affect. To a certain extent, you could say these books describe very well the sacrifice that one must make in order to defeat evil. While the filmmakers may have shied away from showing some of the violence present in the books before now, in my opinion they showed enough in this movie to make the viewer fully appreciate just what is at stake.
DIALOGUE – 9
SPECIAL EFFECTS – 8
STORY – 10
These rating pretty much stand on their own but I do have to say something about the “story” rating. This is not me saying that the movie was a good adaptation of the book. This is me doing my very best to separate the movie from the book because if I consider them linked, then the movie pales in comparison to the book, as they almost always do. Seriously, think of the last time you saw a book made into a movie where you were more impressed with the movie than the book. Sure, I can name a handful off the top of my head but they are few and far between. This was a good screenplay that was well executed and I found that they took relatively few liberties compared with the other Harry Potter movies.
ACTING – 8
INTANGIBLE – 10
The principal cast is getting better and better and the supporting cast is quite possibly one of the best ensembles I’ve ever seen. I give the production team infinite credit for being able to assemble this collection of actors and actresses for each and every movie so far.
On the intangible side, as far as I’m concerned, it’s Harry Potter and it’s nearing its climax. I remember being at the point when the seventh movie ends in the book and I remember not being able to put the book down, knowing what must be coming next. The final battle and all secrets revealed and explained.
Is it July yet?
TOTAL – 95/120
ADJUSTED – 79/100
As a matter of interest for those of you who care, this is how I rated the first six Harry Potter movies.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – 74/100
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – 74/100
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – 78/100
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 84/100
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 68/100
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – 79/100
