Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Movie Review

Run Harry Run!!

Here we go.  The beginning of the end.  The first half of the finale.  The Penultimate Peril (yes, that's a Lemony Snicket reference).
     As the movies have progressed they have each gotten bigger and better then the previous ones, with the exception of the sixth.  So, the obvious question is whether or not Deathly Hallows Part 1 follows this trend.  However, comparing this movie with the previous ones is difficult, as it is just so darn different from any other adventure that Harry's been on.  Not only is it darker and grittier than any other installment in the series, but it is also the first movie that never shows us Hogwarts at all.  Hogwarts has been almost the Narnia of the series-sure we get to see bits and pieces outside, but the majority of the action takes place inside the halls and along the grounds of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  To make a film in which the school is barely even mentioned makes for a jolting and altogether different experience.
     For those who haven't read the books (shame on you), part one of the Deathly Hallows finds Harry, Ron and Hermione on the run from the Ministry of Magic, which has been usurped by Voldemort, all the while trying to hunt down the Horcruxes which are the secret to killing the Dark Lord.  Thus there is no fixed locale to take the place of Hogwarts, as they are constantly moving from one place to the next, and I thought that the directors did a great job at portraying just how isolated they are.
     A potential flaw for this movie was the fact that a lot of it is taken up by Harry and friends camping out in their tent.  Sounds boring, right?  Unexpectedly, this is time well spent on developing the relationship between the friends, in particular that of the perspective of Ron.  While this isn't the first time that he gets green with envy at the Boy Who Lived (Goblet of Fire), this time we get to see it much more intensely, with a particularly nasty scene which I won't spoil here, in the which you can't help but feel sorry for Ron-after all, can anybody really remember a single heroic thing he's ever done?
     Now on to the not so good.  Deathly Hallows sees the return of Dobby, whom we haven't seen since the second movie.  The problem is that the writers wrote themselves into a corner: Dobby plays an important role in this movie, but any emotional attachment that the audience has had with the little elf has been gone for several years.  You see, everything that Dobby did in the books in between now and book 2 has been left out by the movies.  When Neville gave Harry the gilly weed?  That was originally Dobby.  When Neville found the Room of Requirment?  Dobby again.  Geeze, Neville's been stealing Dobby's thunder this whole time!
     Okay, time to put the Dobby argument aside.  One more gripe I have is the lack of any explosive finale.  When the ending comes, it feels like there could have been a little more punch to it.  That said, it still left the characters in a dark, uncertain situation, all ready for part two.
Conclusion:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a turning point for the series, leaving the comforts of Hogwarts behind and going for a much more gritty atmosphere.  While it does suffer from a few oversights and the fact that the directors unceremoniously ripped the book in two, it is still Harry Potter at its core, and has done a terrific job at getting me excited for the final chapter in this truly epic saga.
Rating:  8/10 "Great"
Favorite Moment:  The Horcrux scene is pretty cool, but what I really liked was when they did a montage of the gang's travels with a voice over of a guy on the radio reading of a list of missing people.  It was a terrific way of showing how isolated they are, and also the fear spreading throughout the wizarding world.