Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I remember reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in about two days when the book appeared on store shelves. I can recall being excited to read the last chapter of the boy wizard's adventures - but the reality fell short. Apart from mourning the loss of the occasional character who dies along the way, and the saddening realization that this dark, foreboding story represented the last I'd read of these characters, I felt emotionally detached. It was not for lack of plot, depth, or even climactic wizard battles. It was for lack of fun.

You see, now that Voldemort has come back to corporeal form, has brought all of his Death Eaters together into one big dysfunctional killing machine, and all good wizards (and muggles in the know) have gone into hiding to escape Voldey's wrath, there's just not a lot of good 'ol fashioned fun left in Harry's world. That's not to say that the book, like David Yates' visually-stunning film, isn't captivating, even entertaining. But would it have hurt to include a few more broomsticks, edible frogs and oversized, mythical, schoolchildren-eating creatures hovering around Hogwarts? Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione may be grown up and facing extinction, but they've also become undeniably too serious. Combined with the fact that the film out in theatres is "Part I" of the franchise's conclusion, this sad reality results in an awkwardly-depressing film that staggers from one lonely, (often) boring scene to the next.

The story picks up at the start of the school year as usual, with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) about to turn 17, and, one would expect, ready to hop back on the express train that brings our characters back to the school of witchcraft and wizardry that served as setting for the first six films. Not so fast! With the Voldemeister (Ralph Fiennes) mucking about, Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) must go into hiding while they simultaneously search for the remaining "horcruxes" in which the Big V has stored pieces of his soul. Only by destroying the horcruxes can they hope to defeat the increasingly-powerful dark wizard, whose minions keep doing nasty dreadful things to the good denizens of the magical world. That's not an overly complicated plot, mind you, and it involves months of searching, mysterious research, and at least a half dozen dues-ex-machina assists. To alleviate the lightweight nature of the final book, author J.K. Rowling threw in a final attempt at a love triangle between the three lead characters, as well as a level of pining for his parents that in Harry hits an all time high.

Oh, and the movie stops halfway through the book, of course, which means that when the credits roll we're left harmed, homeless and haplessly hopeless. We'll have to wait until June for the happy endings.

I must admit that Yates' visuals are stunning, and the technical team on the picture produced some fine work with regard to audio, special effects and mood. Scriptwriter Steve Kloves has massaged an incredibly complicated book into fine form - although the picture still runs a hefty 2.5 hours. And musically, Alexandre Desplat produced the right vigorous tone for the tense, turgid chase sequences.

But the cast looks - dare I say it - a little bored. With so many characters introduced in the first six chapters, Rowling had to wrap up far too many stories. Some characters she killed - but that was time consuming to the plot, because they needed to be properly mourned. The result is that much of the more interesting moments in Harry's life - such as his attraction to Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) - are glossed over. In some cases, terrific characters such as Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) appear only once or twice for short segments. And some wonderful, well-loved characters such as Minerva McGonigall (Maggie Smith) don't even appear in this installment.

Unfortunately, that means some actors pop in for a few moments of film, and then disappear entirely, and those that are in the film long-term (such as the three leads) are overtaxed in an attempt to introduce new emotional cycles late in the game. It results in an awkward group of characters in a character-driven story - and misfires for its audience on at least this level. There are long stretches when Harry, Ron and Hermione, stuck in a tent out in the wilderness, do little more than wax on about the scenery. Is this Harry Potter or Walden Pond?

But for most, the book worked. And it did so because all of this heavy-handed soul searching catapults the characters into a deadly, climactic wizards battle in the halls of Hogwarts, culminating in the expected dual between Voldemort and Harry Potter. I'm going to disagree with Potter fans and suggest that, had Yates and Warner Bros. opted to make a single film out of Rowling's final novel, the film would have worked. And yes, it could have fit into a single movie. But this is Hollywood, and we'll sacrifice dramatic payoffs for box-office payoffs any day.