Potter & Co. Near Their End in Darkest Chapter
The day has finally arrived. After a decade, the final chapter of the Harry Potter film series is here… well, almost. The final book of the beloved and seminal fantasy series is split into two movies, so the fate of the wizarding world first introduced to theaters by Chris Columbus nine years ago is delayed for another eight months, at which point readers will already have known the outcome for exactly two years.
Regardless, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 suggests no one will be disappointed when the screen goes black and the credits roll after the final moments of the series.
As per the last film, The Half-Blood Prince, The Death Eaters, led by Sirius Snape, stormed Hogwarts and assassinated Professor Dumbledore, after which our teenage trio flee the school. As Harry, Hermione, and Ron are absent from class, so is the school from The Deathly Hallows, Part 1. The three young adult heroes are on the hunt for horcruxes, which help make Voldemort immortal, while also being hunted themselves. Hermione takes her fated friend and boyfriend Ron from barren landscape to barren landscape, casting protection charms so no one can find them while they sort out where to go next.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic is destroyed and usurped by Voldemort’s army, securing power over wizard-kind. And Harry’s scarring connection to his archenemy inflicts flashes of Voldemort’s latest pursuits upon him, allowing us to see more peripheral characters meet their end.
I remember a big hullabaloo was made over the death of a single character way back in The Goblet of Fire. In The Deathly Hallows, Part 1, a character dies within the first ten minutes – and many more follow.
Since the Death Eaters are taking over, a dark cloud is cast over every aspect of this movie from its color palette and tone to moments scary enough to make Middle Earth’s Eye of Sauron have nightmares. This is the darkest of the series and of the entire family-friendly fantasy genre. Also, mature themes and dialogue are stretched throughout nearly every scene spent with our young heroes in hiding, which make up over half the movie. Older audiences will be engaged - which fits perfectly with how much our heroes have grown up - but the younger crowd will long for the days of magical mischief and Quiddich matches.
This is not a film for Muggles aged six and under.
Speaking of the past, fans and faithful audiences will delight in all the characters, objects, potions, and places from previous installments that The Deathly Hallows recalls. This is one of the film’s most thrilling successes as it made me anxious to see if certain characters that have yet to return will be seen in Part 2. Part 1 is very focused on the effects of recent events on Harry and his friends. Hopefully, Part 2 will look out and widen its gaze to how the new Ministry and its half-blood hunting
Does the film stand on its own with artistic or thematic merit? Please, if those are the questions you’re asking at this point then you really need to get over yourself. Not only is this only one-half of a complete movie, but it is a part of what is essentially a seven-part theatrical mini-series. Besides, the series has consistently proven itself to be of superior quality to most movies targeted at youth, fantasy or otherwise. That said, if you’ve never seen a Harry Potter film, do not begin with this one, because it relies greatly on the rest of the series, especially Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince (both happen to be directed by this chapter’s David Yates).
Furthermore, say what you will about Chris Columbus’s Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets (the latter is also heavily referenced in Deathly Hallows), but the colorful, brightly lit, and tonally whimsical and innocent elements of those films effectively contrast with every aspect of the final chapter, giving a tremendous sense of progression and growth. Even the young actors’ talents have evolved greatly throughout the series.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is a film all about character (figurative and literal), emotional suffering, trust, betrayal, and death, which becomes a constant presence here. The stakes are high and the strength of our trio’s solidarity is tested as we near the end of the saga. As in every penultimate chapter, we are left with the villain gaining the upper hand and our heroes narrowly escaping death (most of them, anyway). This is heavy stuff for The Boy Who Lived to endure. And after all that, he still has to conquer The Dark Lord.
I couldn’t be more excited for Part 2.
8/10
Should you see it? Buy tickets
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is now in theaters in 2D and IMAX.