The Harry Potter saga will, I'm sure, need little introduction to readers of this blog. What started off as a children's book gradually became more complex and mature as the series progressed, to the extent that by the end of the series it probably had more adult fans than kids. In filming the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the film-makers made the decision to tell the story over two films. This may well be a cynical ploy to milk as much money as possible from the franchise but from a film adaptation stand-point it works really well and I wish they had thought of doing this with earlier films in the series, the weakest of the film adaptations, Order of the Phoenix, would have benefited from this approach immensely as being based on a huge tome, it had to cut out so many scenes and characters from the film it ended up feeling rushed and making little sense unless you had read the book beforehand. The extended overall running time allows DHpt1 to bring in characters from the books that have not made it to the big screen before like Mudugus Fletcher and Bill Weasley. Based on this it is also a possibility that Hogwart's poltergeist, Peeves, might at long last make an appearance in part 2 as well.
Although I loved the book, it was not without its flaws, the worst being a camping sequence in the middle that dragged on and on, wasting a big section of the book without much happening until #SPOILERS# Ron destroys a horocrux containing part of Lord Voldemort's soul. The film-makers have wisely reduced this section in the movie and livened it up a bit too. As a result of this and the quite frankly marvellously executed action set pieces the film feels a lot slicker and tighter than the book.
Speaking of the action set pieces the one that stands out the most is when Harry, Ron and Hermione sneak into the ministry of magic, which has been turned into a nazi-style propaganda operation to emphasise the superiority of wizards over 'muggles' run by the antagonist of Order of the Phoenix Deloris Umbridge. The film ends with the death of Dobby and Voldemort breaking open Dumbledore's grave to obtain his wand, which is part of a trio of powerful magical items known as the deathly hallows, after which the book and film are named. This leaves on a cliffhanger, which makes you all the more eager to see the second part when it is released later this year. The acting, as one might expect from such an accomplished cast including some of the most renowned actors currently working in cinema and theatre, is superb and over the years the film's child stars Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have received a master-class in acting from a variety of respected directors and their adult co-stars, which has fashioned them into great actors as well.
It is honestly impossible to fault the film and for any fan of the books this is the adaptation you've been waiting for.
10/10
Although I loved the book, it was not without its flaws, the worst being a camping sequence in the middle that dragged on and on, wasting a big section of the book without much happening until #SPOILERS# Ron destroys a horocrux containing part of Lord Voldemort's soul. The film-makers have wisely reduced this section in the movie and livened it up a bit too. As a result of this and the quite frankly marvellously executed action set pieces the film feels a lot slicker and tighter than the book.
Speaking of the action set pieces the one that stands out the most is when Harry, Ron and Hermione sneak into the ministry of magic, which has been turned into a nazi-style propaganda operation to emphasise the superiority of wizards over 'muggles' run by the antagonist of Order of the Phoenix Deloris Umbridge. The film ends with the death of Dobby and Voldemort breaking open Dumbledore's grave to obtain his wand, which is part of a trio of powerful magical items known as the deathly hallows, after which the book and film are named. This leaves on a cliffhanger, which makes you all the more eager to see the second part when it is released later this year. The acting, as one might expect from such an accomplished cast including some of the most renowned actors currently working in cinema and theatre, is superb and over the years the film's child stars Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have received a master-class in acting from a variety of respected directors and their adult co-stars, which has fashioned them into great actors as well.
It is honestly impossible to fault the film and for any fan of the books this is the adaptation you've been waiting for.
10/10
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