Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (M). Director: David Yates. Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman. 146 minutes
Forgive us now for what we've doneIt started out as a bit of funHere, take these before we run awayThe keys to the gulag–'O Children', Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This is the first half of the final instalment of the film series based on J. K. Rowling's phenomenal fantasy book series — otherwise known as the one where things get really dark.
Gone entirely are the quidditch matches, the schoolroom slapstick, the minutiae of life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Deathly Hallows is a dark and violent quest story to rival The Lord of the Rings. Its moments of respite are bittersweet at best, epitomised by the sight of two teenagers, alone in the woods and in the world, dancing to a gloomy Nick Cave ballad (quoted above) that crackles from a radio.
The Harry Potter kids are growing up, and growing up is rarely easy.
Anyone who has read the books or seen the previous films (and the filmmakers reasonably assume that anyone watching this has done so), should recall that the sixth instalment, The Half-Blood Prince, contained one major plot development, and much important plot detail. The former was the murder of Hogwarts' eccentric but wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), by the sinister Severus Snape (Rickman).
The latter mostly concerned the nature and history of the mythical horcruxes, a set of dark talismans that are bound to the mortality of boy wizard Harry's (Radcliffe) nemesis, Lord Voldemort (Fiennes).
Where The Half-Blood Prince was exposition-heavy, Deathly Hallows is much more action driven. It concerns Harry's quest, accompanied by his best friends Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson), to locate and destroy the horcruxes, believing this to be his best chance of defeating Voldemort. Ultimately this leads to the series' two biggest action setpieces, including the climactic and brutal Battle of Hogwarts.
Part One of the film adaptation leaves most of the larger-scale action for Part Two. Mostly it deals with the early stages of the quest, and on the growing frustrations and tensions among the trio. They are hunted, harried, and all but flying blind. They leave behind a world that has come under the grips of Voldemort and his Death Eater underlings, and where Harry, as the 'chosen one' prophesied to destroy Voldemort, is ever in