Favorite Franchises: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Directed by: David Yates


Plot Summary: While attending the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, Harry Potter flees the scene with his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley when the wedding is crashed by a group of Death Eaters. After they disapparate to London, their plan is to hunt down the rest of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes and destroy them so he can be destroyed. Being on the lookout for any of Voldemort's despicable Snatchers in the woods, Harry and his friends must also be prepared for their internal struggles with each other, as tensions are at an all-time high when they have one of the Horcruxes in their possession. While on their journey, they discover a bunch of clues left to them by Professor Dumbledore through the items that were bestowed to them in his will, leading to them uncovering the truth about the legendary Deathly Hallows.


About 5 years ago, this would be the point where I would be trying to tackle the final installment of the epic Harry Potter franchise. However, when they announced the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, they revealed that it would be split into two parts, thus making it an 8 film series. What was thought to be an excellent way to show the full events of the books without having to worry about time constraints, should actually be looked at for what it truly is: a cash grab. Yes, fans of the books would have complained if some subplots and events from the book were left on the cutting room floor, but the filmmakers have had to deal with that for the previous six films, so why start now? Not to mention it started the trend of all major movie franchises splitting their final film into two parts. Yes, THIS film is responsible for The Hobbit being split from 2 movies into a trilogy (I'll tackle that trainwreck someday), as well as the constant amount of YA novel adaptations like Twilight and The Hunger Games having an extra film added to their series. Book fans may enjoy this, but as a moviegoer I can't help but see how cheap this is for the studios to milk their source material for all its worth. And even worse, it creates the same problem that splitting Kill Bill into two parts created: having to judge the movies on their own. Because of that we have the film with all the story and the film with all the action. And where you stand as a moviegoer usually is the deciding factor on which part you like more. For me, I'm a bigger fan of story over action, so I actually prefer Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

Daniel Radcliffe returns to the role of Harry Potter for the first part of his final adventure. At this point, Harry is at the end of his development so there isn't a lot to talk about. But I do want to give Radcliffe some praise in his performances used to create the Seven Harry Potters. The special effects to transform Fred and George Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Mundungus Fletcher, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger into identical copies of Harry was certainly part of the magic, but it wouldn't have worked if Radcliffe hadn't studied the postures and mannerisms of each of the actors so it would look on film that each of these versions of Harry were different and that even though they looked like Harry (Radcliffe, technically), they maintained their original characteristics as well. It's a really fascinating process to watch in the DVD bonus features, I suggest you check it out. It's a wonderful blend of the special effects and the acting performances to bring one of my favorite sequences from the books to life.

Harry has a really key scene in the film with Hermione Granger, played by Emma Watson. In a scene that is not from the books, they share a dance that teases what some fans had wanted to see since starting the series, if Harry and Hermione could end up being a couple. The "will they, won't they" scene is either loved or hated by fans based on how they felt about the possibility of Harry and Hermione actually dating. For me, I LOVED IT! I thought it actually worked better in the film's favor because Dan and Emma actually had a great amount of chemistry together. Don't believe me? Then go back, watch the earlier films, and watch all of their scenes together with the mindset that by Deathly Hallows, they share a dance scene where they almost kiss. Yeah, suddenly it doesn't seem too farfetched after all. This leads to one of the biggest conflicts of the film, a supposed love triangle that pits Ron Weasley, played by Rupert Grint, against his friends. His jealousy in this film feels more justified and grounded in reality based on what's going on around them. You could understand why he gets angry, and thanks to the Horcrux, it gets turned up to an 11. Of course, Ron has a heroic moment of triumph later on, and all is redeemed. At least he is with Harry, then he goes right back to what we know him for best, getting chewed out by Hermione.

I think I might as well take the time to reflect on Harry's love interest and Ron's little sister Ginny Weasley, played by Bonnie Wright. While I'm quick to understand that the filmmakers liked watching these children grow into mature adults as the films evolve, I think they should have seriously thought about recasting the role of Ginny. In the first two films, they really only needed Ginny to be a quiet, unassuming child character. But you're nearing the end of your series and Wright needed to be ready to step up to the plate and accurately play the role of Ginny as someone confident and strong. Someone that you could honestly believe that Harry would fall in love with. They did NONE of that here and it honestly feels bizarre that Harry would ever fall for her. In fact, the romantic tone of the movies seemed to be more accurate with the teased triangle mentioned earlier. Ginny is easily the major character that I thought the films got wrong the most, and I get that the filmmakers only threw this development between her and Harry together because of the books, but geez, talk about a lack of chemistry. I honestly wouldn't have minded if the filmmakers said "Let's mess with all the fans and go with the whole Harry and Hermione romance," as long as it would have made more sense in the FILMS, which it DID!

In a moment of brilliant casting, we have one of the best villains in the series in Bellatrix Lestrange, played by Helena Bonham Carter. There's not really a whole lot that needs to be said here, other than Carter really knows how to make her a cruel villain with hints of dark comedy. With a love for violence and torture, and a blind faithfulness to Lord Voldemort, she easily sits beside him as one of the top Death Eaters he can depend on. She's especially wicked in Deathly Hallows - Part 1, thanks to a scene in the film's climax that involves her verbally and physically torturing numerous characters, including our main three heroes. She had done some pretty bad things in the previous two films, but this one always seemed to be the toughest for me to stomach thanks to the intimacy of the setting and the vulnerability of her victims. This film is an excellent example of why Bellatrix is one of the biggest fan favorite characters in the series because she's a kooky character (which is Helena's bread and butter at this point) that you absolutely love to hate.

If you check out the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 DVD bonus features, you'll see the main documentary, highlighting the concept of story, is simply a 45 minute discussion between screenwriter Steve Kloves and author J.K. Rowling. While that might be exciting and insightful for some, it didn't help me out towards this review in the slightest. Instead, I'll take the time to explain why I appreciate the story being told in Part 1 as opposed to the action-centered Part 2. The climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is about an hour of action sequence after action sequence, and while that might be the finality of the series for most, it's only one part of the finale. You also need the importance of the main story that is going on and a lot of that set up can be found in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. This isn't a film you can skip in the series and sure the talking can drag out a bit, but it's all important for the greater good of the final battle. There's tons of detail in establishing all of the story in Part 1 to make sure that the action has the proper payoff in Part 2, so the films need to go hand in hand, or at the least, merged together for a complete film with an intermission in between. Would that have been really that difficult to do? You know the fans would've been there for the full movie even if there wasn't an intermission. And THIS is why I call splitting your final film in a franchise into two parts a cheap, pointless, cash grab.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This film really comes down to you either like or not based on how much you enjoy dialogue. There is a lot of talking and setting up the plot that will obviously be resolved in Deathly Hallows - Part 2, but if you can actually appreciate the story that's being told, you may find that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 is one of the more enjoyable and thought provoking films in the entire franchise. There's a lot of memorable scenes and moments that are thrown together for fans of both the books and the movies, and this film should be regarded as more than just "the boring one."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.