Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Deathly Hallows sees Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) on the penultimate adventure in the Harry Potter franchise. As the most anticipated film of the year you would think that it would be the best in the epic saga yet and to a certain extent it is – it’s the darkest film and… well… it’s dark.

Having only entered the world of Harry Potter so I could see the sixth one – The Half Blood Prince – with my friends I can safely say I can look at the whole franchise with a pretty objective view. I wanted to see Deathly Hallows just to find out what happens and was ready to be wowed by fight scenes and suspense but at the same time not too bothered if it didn’t happen.

I went in there only knowing the basics – Harry, Ron and Hermione spend half the book in a tent arguing with each other about Horcruxes and a bunch of people die at the end. Guessing we weren’t going to see much death in this part of the double episode film I was prepared for a more… not exactly saunter in to the final battle but a slower paced film than the second part will hopefully be.

Honestly the only reason I’ve babbled on so much so far is that I’m not sure what to say about it. Wasn’t impressed, unimpressed either.

But, to be brutally honest, the only thing that kept me from – I don’t know – falling asleep or something was some pretty nifty poetic licence and straying from the book. How do you know this if you haven’t read the books, I hear you ask. I watched part of the behind the scenes thing that was on telly the other day.

The script writers had Ron leave Harry and Hermione part way through the film, jealous that his two friends are so close and we finally see an argument between him and Harry that’s been brewing for ages. The argument itself was kind of predictable – Ron’s been wearing the Horcrux they found around his neck all day and it makes him irritable, reminiscent of the One Ring from LotR. What made it watchable was seeing the emotion from Hermione when Ron leaves after said argument and her shouting at him after his inevitable return. And the line “I’m always angry at him”.

The film moves leisurely for a while (about half an hour) until Ron’s predictable return with a predictable speech about how he followed his love for Hermione to get back to them, and then it picks up again with them begin chased by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Then, after their escape, it inevitably slows down again and ends in the most boring ending I’ve seen in a long time.

Having completely slated it I’ll admit that the scene where Ron destroys the Horcrux is pretty cool with good CGI. The opening scene where Hermione ‘obliviates’ herself from her parents memory (you’ll have to wait a few minutes for this) is for me the most affecting scene of the whole film and that emotion is then reprised the next time she has to use the spell as you can tell that she is thinking “the last time I used this spell it was on Mum and Dad”.

The scenes with Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) are by far the best as they carry the overall darkness of the whole film. Set in the darkened Malfoy Manor the impending doom isn’t hard to see, but with the character’s almost casual sadistic nature, coupled with Bellatrix Lestrange’s (Helena Bonham Carter) innate insanity, which is clearly shown in a scene where she tortures Hermione, the oncoming of an even more sinister time and a final battle are clearly shown.

All in all an okay film but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again or buy it on DVD.

Here’s hoping the next one’s better.