MarketBOB's Movie Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 Movie Review

2010 by Sportscar Projects Ltd.

My writer site http://www.cforgrave.com/

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

November 19, 2010

This SNAKE-ALICIOUS Sequel has our scarred hero camping out at the gloomiest sites in Britain, wearing a bra and playing Harry Stumbledore to Lord Voldemorts update of SPECTREs vision of world domination! I want you to die, Mr. Potter!

One Word Movie Review: Anticipated

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 finds Harry, Hermione and Ron (sometimes) camping out in the most desolate, depressing places in Britain, hiding out from the evil Voldemort until these three stooges can figure out just what the hell they need to do. In previous movies, the safety of Hogwarts School and the wise advice of their teachers drive the children through an escalating series of adventures to uncover the agents of the Dark Lord and thwart their evil actions just as summer arrives. Now the school is no more and the teachers are all in hiding. The grand protector/father figure of Dumbledore was killed off in the last movie and now, with his last will and testament leaving four seemingly innocent keepsakes to our three heroes, they

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are left to their own wits to Stumbledore towards their quest to destroy the four remaining charms (called horcrux) protecting Voldemort from certain death. The entire movie is concerned with death, avoiding death, cheating death and mastering death. Muggles (the non-wizards of the world, i.e. us folk) are persecuted and enslaved and the coming victory of Voldemort requires one small piece of the puzzle to fit into place: the killing of Harry Potter by the hand of the Dark Lord himself. Of course, without this vain act of revenge, the epic saga would have ended long ago. Instead we get this meandering camping trip punctuated by battles against the many minions of Voldemort and a few truly excellent moments of SNAKE-CITEMENT (which should be the tag line for this movie). The gigantic reptile is the star of this movie, sparking the few audience gasps as it leaps towards the camera. Obviously, this was the reason the filmmakers wanted to adapt this movie for 3D but scrapped the idea (and the $10 million cost to convert the images) at the last minute. The dark hue of this movie would have been murky and lifeless with the 25% loss of light when exhibited in 3D. The snake works fine in 2D and the box office will be just fine without the extra $3 surcharge. The opening night audience watching with me was packed to the rafters with rabid fans who laughed at every tentative romantic moment between Hermoine and Ron, Hermoine and Harry and Harry and Ginny

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can you do up my zipper Weasley. They cried when a cuddly character dies and cringed at a few horror moments which have become more and more common as the series progressed and the characters aged. In this movie, we even get a view of a partially-severed arm and an intense torture scene with nasty screaming. We even get an animated fairy tale in the style of Tim Burton, explaining the meaning behind the Deathly Hallows symbol. What we dont get is any relief from the tedious scenes of our heroes sitting around camp wondering what the hell theyre supposed to do. Ron gets so fed up, he leaves his two friends, but weve paid our money for a ticket and so we stay to watch Harry Stumbledore pursue his horcrux hunt, getting nowhere for the longest time. This is the final problem with Part 1, the first movie to end half-way through the school year around Xmas. Things usually just get moving when the snow falls in all the previous movies but in this one, the producers wanted two paydays at the box office. You cant fault a studio for wanting to make a few extra billion dollars.

The Story
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 begins with a pair of eyes staring out in close focus while the speaker drones on about dark

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times and defending liberty. This is an unfortunate image, following closely after the trailer for Kung Fu Panda II with a similar stare out at the audience (for laughs). Anyway, these eyes belong to the powerful Minister of Magic, played by Bill Nighy with an authority and confidence which is in direct contrast with the fate of his character as Voldemort easily takes over the Ministry and launches his Nazi-like purge of Muggle blood from the ranks of the magic folk. Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione are leaving home for the last time and preparing to hit the road on their Horcrux quest to defeat the Dark Lord. We meet Voldemort and his pet snake in a scene out of a James Bond movie where all the SPECTRE agents sit around a conference table while their boss lays out his psychopathic agenda. All Ralph Fiennes needed was a white Persian cat in his lap and hed be a perfect clone of Number 2. From these introductory scenes of our heroes on the run and the evil wizards in total control, we continue with more of the same, over and over as the whole story line of Part 1. In the end, we have one horcrux smashed and our heroes still on the run. The evil wizards remain in total control of everything.

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As far as storytelling goes, the pace is slow going and overall tells a very quiet movie. Without a few dreams and dusty old books, there would be no way for Harry to figure out what he should do next. In fact, Hermione gets so frustrated she suggests they just camp out in the forest forever and give up the quest. However, a little SNAKE-CITEMENT perks up the action along with shots of Harry in a bra, Harry and Hermione in a naked embrace and dancing in their tent to Nick Caves O Children. This is the end of these characters as children forever. Watch for the Ministry-bashing satire on government workers, as they go to work every day by flushing themselves down public toilets, to name just one fun image of bureaucracy at work.

The Genre
The kids action/fantasy adventure franchise genre is now owned by Harry Potter. It is the most successful movie franchise in history and the final two parts will rack up several billions in box office before Harry finally ends the Voldemort menace. It has spawned a Potter Generation who will partly define themselves through these stories much like the previous Star

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Wars generations came of age and ushered in our love of technology and spiritual faith in the Force as a channel for the light and dark sides of all things. Now we have a generation immersed in the mythology of magic as the hidden force between light and dark. Wizards control the opposite of technology, the earth elements and raw materials of wood (wands) and animals, the supernatural beasts living among us but in a hidden world only a few enlightened souls can see. Perhaps in a few years, much like the crass commercial concept behind revivals of other franchises (Aliens vs. Predators, Freddy vs. Jason) we will get a Harry vs. Vader movie pitched in a weak studio moment when desperation demands a sure box-office hit. More likely will be a video game battle pitching Jedi Knights against Hogwarts Wizards, perhaps even a friendly game of full-contact Quiddich between Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter. This genre is all about money, spin-offs and franchise extensions. At least with the Harry Potter series, the movies have been generally excellent until now, which is designed more to milk the franchise audience than deliver the robust full-book storyline of all the other movies. It stops way too early. Sorry, but this box office

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maximization strategy results in the loss of some of the magic weve come to love for a generation.

The Overall Quality

The acting remains the strongest part of the Harry Potter series and these aging characters are coming into their full bloom right now. Supported by a vast whos who of British actors, the characters come to life in every frame. Visually, this is a very dark, cold and visually dull movie. Almost monotone for great parts of the action, there is none of the playful, imaginative settings weve enjoyed in Hogwarts, Diagon Alley and the like. Bleak best describes the locations, from the grimy cafes to the rock bluffs and forest glades we spend most of our time rummaging for clues about what to do. Only at the very end do we get sunlight on the beach, and this is for a funeral. There are a few attempts at humor, mostly at Rons expense as he clumsily woos his love, Hermione. Harry is universally glum, concerned about all the people dying because of him and frustrated because hes forced to play Stumbledore now that his guardian wizard mentor has passed on. However, there is enough here to keep the franchise audience satisfied and it sets up a rousing finale for Part 2. Its just unfortunate the set-up for the final Potter movie

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did not provide a lead-in like the final stand at Helms Deep drove the LOTR Return of the King to smashing success at the box office and at Academy Award time.

Movie/Market Analysis
The Movie Mood for audiences is Positive. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -Part 1 satisfies fans of all ages. By its very nature, it is a set-up for the final movie so it holds back in many areas of story and character but it is essential viewing for people whove followed the story this far. MarketBOB's Sentiment Indicators, the GQS (Genre, Quality, Story) rate HP Part 2 an emotional BEAR. The doom and gloom continues throughout the movie and our heroes make no real progress on eventual victory over evil. The best one can say is that our three troopers are not dead yet.
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Craig Forgrave (MarketBOB)

For all my books and writing projects, drop by my writer site http://www.cforgrave.com/ For the latest analysis of movies and entertainment, go to http://www.marketbob.com/ and read a

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