Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I read the first installment of the Harry Potter series, HPAT Sorcerer's Stone when it first came out in 1998. Three years later, I saw the movie version of Sorcerer's Stone, and ever since then, I have been waiting for the 7th book's movie to come out. I was thrilled when I heard that the most epic novel of the series would be made into two movies, but I wondered if two movies would do it justice.

In the past, I have loved the movies but I never felt like they represented the books as well as they could. However, for that to happen, the movies for each book would need to be 4 or 5 hours long, which is in no way realistic. I was one of the fans that would have preferred a part 1 & 2 for each book, but either way, I still waited on the edge of my seat for Deathly Hallows Part 1 to come out.


Now, about the movie...

As in true form of Harry Potter movies, it starts out quiet, even peaceful. There are many thrilling parts to the movie that are easy to like. But I love little details; my favorite small detail is when we see Hermione's parents. They seem unaware to a point, of what is going on. We see how leaving takes a toll on Hermione. We never focus much on her family. Much time is devoted to Ron's family or Harry dealing with the roller coaster of loss and gain of loved ones. It's nice to see a more emotional side to Hermione. It helps set a pace of emotion for the whole movie.

I will say, that although there were seemingly valuable moments lacking in the movie, the parts most readers were longing to see, were done well. "The Seven Potters" was amazing. I know most readers were interested to see that. The first fight with death eaters when the 7 potters leave was great as well, although not done according to the book.

A very impressive element in the movie was the ability to keep the interest without an exciting set. Much of the set is in the woods. There is an occasional trip to the Ministry and Malfoy Manor, and some village areas, but the scenes in the woods are just great.

Probably the most impressive scene is when Ron has come back after storming of days ago. He saves Harry from the frozen lake, where he is searching for the sword of Gryffindor. Together, Ron and Harry destroy the locket that has been causing so many problems. That scene is so chilling and so exciting.

The graphics overall make every scene as powerful as it can be.

A bittersweet moment is when Dobby dies. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Griphook, Ollivander and Luna are being held at Malfoy Manor in the dungeon. They are unable to get out, even with magic, and see very little hope of escaping. Hermione is being tortured upstairs, and Wormtail fetches Griphook from the dungeon since he's next to be tortured. Dobby appears. Being an elf he can get in and out with no problem. He takes Luna and Ollivander to Shell cottage and then comes back for Harry and Ron after they've stupefied Wormtail and made it upstairs to save Hermione and Griphook. Dobby tries to get everyone out without harm, but Bellatrix throws a knife that follows them when they apparate. They arrive on the beach and Dobby is dead. The scene is done well, but it's a sad scene. I cried the second the knife was thrown, because I remembered what happened next. It's great to get that much emotion from 2 minutes of film. It shows how well they developed Dobby's character and how they got us to love the little elf.

Another thing I enjoyed, was seeing another side to Draco Malfoy. I liked seeing that he wasn't really choosing to be as dark as he appeared.

The entire movie was done so well, but it leaves a lot to be expected in the last movie.

A big desire for me pertaining to the last movie: I want to see them all digitally grown-up with kids of their own getting on the train to Hogwarts. But I want it done digitally, not just actors who are 10 years older and look similar enough.

All in all a wonderful moving that was more than I hoped for!