The adventures of the great Harry Potter are coming to an end and as the movies increase in their numbers so do the main trio's ages and it certainly shows how far they've come and what they have to face as their ten year journey ends (the actors' ten years, the characters' seven years in case you're counting). No matter how old the actors are now and how old the characters are supposed to be, there's no mistaking the bond between them and the past six movies have certainly been preparing them for this movie because they have an almost sole responsibility to drive this movie like none of the others have before.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) have left Hogwarts, through no fault of their own and are on a quest to destroy the remaining Horcruxes that contain the parts of Voldermort's soul that make him immortal. The Ministry of Magic has been taken over by the Deatheaters and everybody's lives are at risk, even the muggles.
This is the most grown up Potter adventure yet and it shows, do not expect a fun filled romp with a neatly tied up happy ending because this movie is bleak, there is very little relief from the impending doom that surrounds our heroes and some of the aspects will even test even some of the more stone-hearted adults.
Having read the book (albeit a couple of years ago now) I imagined the book as part Bourne Identity and part something else. I suspect the second part of the movie released in June will have a somewhat different tone to it, less bleak and more action orientated. The first part however is exactly that, a road movie of sorts that takes the trio to far flung territories, some old and familiar, (The Ministry of Magic) and some new, (The Malfoy's House) but each has been stylised to show the foreboding terror that the world is facing, both magical and muggle. The Ministry of Magic is cold and clinical and the Malfoy's house, Voldermort's new base of operations is large, gothic and menacing. I also couldn't help thinking that if everybody who wore only black was captured earlier that there wouldn't have been an uprising from the dark wizards in the first place, but I digress.
The movie seems to be putting in as many cameos as it can seeing as there will be a lot of British actors looking elsewhere for steady employment come July 2011. Bearing that in mind we have short cameos from Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Boat That Rocked) as Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang and the forthcoming Spider-Man reboot) as Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna Lovegood's father and Sophie Thompson (Gosford Park, Four Weddings and a Funeral and most recently Eastenders) as Mafalda Hopkirk, Hermione's disguise to get into The Ministry of Magic. There's also a reunion of cast, however short, by many beloved characters such as Madeye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), Mr and Mrs Weasley (Julie Walters and Mark Williams) and Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) so every Potter fan should be pleased and even Dobby (voiced by Toby Jones) returns.
However be warned, right from the beginning, the movie bares its teeth and pulls no punches in exactly how adult and serious it wants to be. Younger viewers will be scared particularly by the snake, Voldermort's pet (Nagini, for you trivia fans) and it's evident in the first 20 minutes that the movie was set out to become 3D and was rightfully changed, I would hope in favour of the story, but more likely to bring it more broadly to screens that do not have the 3D option (although this would have been released in 2D anyway). As mentioned before the themes are older and more mature and younger viewers may either become bored, until the action scenes, or not fully understand the more heart breaking scenes (prepare for a tear jerking death scene or two).
In conclusion, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows is a deep and sometimes terrifying movie, not by any means as terrifying as more adult orientated movies but it will definitely stick in the mind as being a vast change in tone and one that older children will enjoy, but without going into melodrama and emotional turmoil that other such franchises rely on to bring in the teenage market.
by Joel Fisher
by Joel Fisher
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