Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: Review

I finally went to go see the new Harry Potter a few days ago, after dangerously trudging through snow and ice to get to the cinema. It is quite ridiculous the amount of snow we're getting at the moment, but digress...

I confess I have not read all of the books (despite wanting to go to university to study English Literature...ahem...) and so, very slightly I was lost concerning the plot. However, I'm sure I also missed a ton of references that only readers will notice, so maybe after all these years I should return to the books - who knows?

Despite these drawbacks, I found the film entertaining. Very much so. It's standard now for the Potter films to be made with such high quality and attention to detail that you almost forget what a polished film it is. The special effects were superb, and yet some so subtle you probably don't even notice them, you expect them.

Fortunately, or unfortunately the film is mainly composed of just Harry, Ron and  Hermione running from a wild goose chase by Voldermort...y'know...the nice politician from Maid in Manhattan? I say fortunately and unfortunately because whilst you get to see some nice acting and all that from the three young stars, you miss out on a lot of the great British talent the past films have scooped up. Smidgens of Bill Nighy, Mark William, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Robbie Coltrane and more crop up, but not enough for me. Of course, the film's based on a book so it's not their fault, but it's a disappointment none the less.

So yes, the film was solid - none of it was amazingly bad (although the cheese factor was knocked up a notch in some cases...BAM!) but then none of it blew me away either. The main reason for this, or indeed the only reason, is because as it says in the title, it is 'Part 1.' In other words, the prequel to the action, the calm before the storm and inevitable most of it therefore is going to be build up and story setting for the final film as it goes out with a bang.

And don't get me wrong, I really do like the story and it all works well but I do have a small problem. I'm not sure whether this is a fault to the film or the books, but the latest cinema outings for the Harry Potter franchise do seem rather bleak and depressing. I am still content with the Chamber of Secrets being my favourite film, or perhaps the Prisoner of Azkaban because they act as the 'Harry learning and growing within the wizarding world' films. In those, everything was fun and light-hearted and there was cool magic and happy people and not everyone was dropping like flies all the time. Now I feel they've went too far the other way and left the films feeling empty. Or this whole paragraph could just be me reminiscing of simpler times when the three stars were young and had nothing to stress over...like me when I watched those films for the first time. Sigh...

Anyways, yes the film was good and yes of course it's made me want to go see the final final but I don't know, something just wasn't right for me and of course, it's only going to get worse in the next film where everything and everyone goes kablamo!!! That's right isn't it? That's what happens!?