Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is the complete opposite of the original film in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There are mature themes of loss of innocence, death, and first love. The film is the cinematic equivalent of a modern thriller with quick edits, and stunning cinematography.
Watching the film I longed for the day when Hollywood turned out epic films such as Gone With The Wind, Lawrence Of Arabia and Ben-Hur. The studios were not afraid of producing a three hour plus picture that told a compelling story. Because no matter how you look at it this film is only half a movie. Instead of having an intermission of 20 minutes that sends us out to the lobby for more popcorn, it has an intermission that lasts almost 8 months. The movie does not have an ending; it just stops.
The Empire Strikes back showed Hollywood that a sequel can end on a cliff-hanger and the audience will return in droves. But Empire featured a climactic confrontation between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, that fans had been waiting for. In Deathly Hollows Harry and Lord Voldemort have a minor skirmish in the beginning and then do not cross paths for the rest of the film. This leaves an empty and unfulfilled feeling at the end of the movie.
Warner Bros. claimed they split the book in order to do justice to the material and that may be true, but there is no denying that the primary factor is economics. Theatres will not show a film over three hours. It allows them only one screening per night and they won't make needed revenue. And by splitting the book Warner can expect two billion in ticket sales for this title instead of one billion. So Harry Potter fans are treated to a half a movie. But it's a good half.
By now the film is exclusively about the three heroes Harry, Ron and Hermione. Everyone else is reduced to small parts and cameos. Hogwarts does not appear at all. Harry, Ron and Hermione are on their own. Fugitives from the Ministry of Magic, searching for the secret means to destroy Voldemort.
Even with the book divided in half there is a lot of material to cover and the film offer long expositions about Horcruxes, deathly hollows and various magicians who are somehow linked to Dumbeldore and Voldemort. If you have not read the books and watched the other films you will be completely lost. Even having read the book it was still a challenge to follow everything they were talking about.
Even at half a movie the film packs an emotional wallop. It opens with some edge of your seat action and never really lets up for a good 45 minutes. When the characters on the screen finally share a moment to relax, an audible sigh and chuckle was heard by the audience. And the film ends with the death of a beloved character that had the audience in tears.
I can look forward to Christmas 2011 when both films will be out on DVD and I can watch them as one complete movie. If Warner Bros. is smart next July they will set up a double feature screening HP7:Part One & Two together.
At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars.
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