So it seems reasonable enough to say why not do it all, shoot the works, show every scene millions of readers want to see, give every character his or her proper curtain call, be expansive rather than constrained? In this case, probably better a bit too much - even a dull scene here and there - than not enough.ĭeathly Hallows opens boldly. To cram the essentials covered in Part 1 and to do justice to the climaxes that await would represent a very tall order for a single conventional-length film.
More than even the most faithful of the earlier episodes, this film feels devoted above all to reproducing the novel onscreen as closely as possible, an impulse that drags it toward ponderousness at times and rather sorely tests the abilities of the young actors to hold the screen entirely on their own, without being propped up by the ever-fabulous array of character actors the series offers.Īrguing in favor of the extensive treatment is the fact that in Deathly Hallows, screenwriter Steve Kloves must pull together multiple story strands and dozens of characters that, as especially will be the case in Part 2, date back to the series’ prepubescent days. That this holiday release will be a huge international attraction is beyond question, even if the real fireworks mostly await the finale’s second installment, which arrives July 15. With Harry, Ron and Hermione left largely to their own devices on often forbidding terrain, this grim beginning-of-the-end odyssey has a very different feel from any of its predecessors - a development slightly more disconcerting than it is welcome.
Gone are Hogwarts and the sense of security that went with it, gone is any of the joy of youth, gone is more than just a measure or two of John Williams‘ original music. The long goodbye for the most successful film series of the century thus far begins with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, the darkest and least characteristic of the batch.