Harry Potter

Just minutes ago I came back from seeing the latest Harry Potter movie. I feel like I'm wasting time with this stupid introduction, so...my reaction to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

The film is very dark and epic as I expected it would be going in. There was some humor injected here and there that helped it from being too serious, but not always. Daniel Radcliffe is a little too dramatic ("I will do this" or "We will do that"), but the performances from the leads are good enough by and large.

It's clear that JK Rowling had plenty of creative control over the production. It was an excellent decision to split the story over two films, since Deathly Hallows is certainly the most detailed book in the series. I was happily surprised at how much was kept in the film; the things that didn't make it aren't really missed. My only complaint is that the camping scenes before they break the locket drag a bit and the whole part with Ron leaving Harry and Hermione seems to have the sole purpose of adding an extra half hour to the film. To be fair, these were also problems with the book. I would always prefer an accurate adaption to an inaccurate one, so I consider it a minor quibble.

My favorite part of the film was when we learn about "The Tale of the Three Brothers". I thought the animated way of telling the story was interesting and delightfully creepy (with a very Tim Burton-inspired vibe). The whole scene where our heroes visit Luna Lovegood's dad was exactly what I envisioned just from reading the book.

I loved this movie. It's the best film adaption since Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm going to see it twice on the big screen, but I want to wait until the excitement dies down a bit. It was worth seeing on opening day, but I don't want to have to force my way through a sea of people to find a place to sit next time.