Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: My Two Cents

Anyone who knows me knows how much of a Potter-maniac I am. For mic checks in drama I used to recite the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I own all seven books in both the American and original British versions and my best friend Tara and I dressed up for the movie premieres and midnight book releases.

But not that you needed to know all of that.

I will say, that for past HP films it has taken me a couple times to fully love the movies. See, the first time I would harp on the pieces left out and the scenes added for no reason, but the second time I could get past all of that and enjoy it for what it is - a film adaptation.

This wasn't the case for Deathly Hallows Part 1, however. While things will always be left out of films, they just did such an incredible job capturing the desperation, hopelessness and darkness of this final book in the Potter saga.

Now if you haven't seen the film yet, beware! Spoilers will probably abound, and you shouldn't read on. I'll put this picture to distract you from continuing, and for those who have seen the film and want to read on, it will get you in the mood.

So, the movie begins with the standard rusty WB logo and Hedwig's theme, and I have just begun nibbling on my fingernails and bouncing a bit in my seat. Steven looks at me and rolls his eyes.

We open with Scrimgeour addressing reporters and announcing that everything is under control. Then we flash to Hermione modifying her parents' memories so that they don't remember they have a daughter to protect them from the Death Eaters. This scene is perfect to open with - can you imagine how it would feel to make your parents think you never existed? And to plan for the contingency that if you don't survive, at least they won't be any wiser and will continue to live happy lives?

Now we're into the mood of the movie. You feel the desperation that members of the wizarding community feel. You understand the dangers that the people standing up to Voldemort face, and the level of fear coursing through the wizarding community.

The majority of the movie is spent with Harry, Ron and Hermione camping and bickering, which apparently is a big sore spot for a lot of people. While some think that this is boring and should have been cut, I think that it highlights an important point: these are barely overage wizards who haven't even finished school. They've only had small hints from Dumbledore to help aid them on the near-impossible task of defeating the most powerful dark wizard the wizarding world has ever seen! Of course they're not going to have a clear direction or vision of what they need to accomplish. In fact, I venture to guess that I would be more upset if they didn't struggle to find and destroy the Horcruxes. If that were the case, Voldemort would have been this "all-powerful" dark wizard who was defeated by three 17-year old kids who barely had to lift a finger to destroy him?

Please.

One gripe I did have with the film, and I'm sure many are going to disagree with me on this, is the animated scene of the "Tale of the Three Brothers." Don't get me wrong, the animation was visually stunning and incredibly amazing, but it just felt out of place to me. I understand what they were trying to accomplish in that this story was a children's tale, so let's make the retelling an animation; but they've never done anything like this before, so the whole thing just kind of stood out and didn't "flow" for me.

The last gripe I had was them not showing Harry start to come into his own. And they rushed over the fact of what the Hallows are and what they can do. First, Harry was never hopeful or excited, thinking that if he collected all of the Hallows, he would stand a better chance of fighting Voldemort and his Horcruxes. But then, when he sees Voldemort wanting to go after the Elder Wand, he makes a conscious decision to let him take the wand. That's just such an incredible turning point in the book - Harry finally beginning to understand Voldemort in a way that will help destroy him.

And the movie just leads you to believe that while they are mourning Dobby, Voldemort gets the Elder Wand, and everyone is screwed.

But overall, as I mentioned before, I thought the movie was phenomenal. The acting, as usual was incredible, even as you dig deeper into the emotional ties of the trio.

So I'm totally ready to see this movie again - who's with me?!