The Tritonian

3:45 a.m. Harry Potter Movie Review

Friday, November 19, 2010 By Cassie Bohn and McKayla Kratowicz

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I was everything (and more) a young wanna-be wizard (or witch or squib) should have been expecting throughout the five-hour wait for the midnight premiere. The movie definitely had shock value. Considering the scariest scene from all the previous movies was a five-minute clip of Harry and Voldemort casting spells at each other in a graveyard, this movie takes the cake on making viewers want to, excuse our language, fill their pants. Aside from the fact that there were vulgar scenes of brief nudity (beyond PG-13 material, but not quite up to R standard), this movie was full of extremely frightening images such as an old woman transforming into a giant snake. Throughout the whole movie, there's a dark undertone present that didn't quite give Potter fans the feeling of cheerful magic and fantasy that they are so used to and expecting. As a fair warning, there are a few scenes not suitable for young children (don’t take your little sister). Not trying to be a spoiler, but there were also a few scenes that pulled at the heart strings. If we are to take a deeper look at the film, the cinematic value of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I was beyond incredible. Where the filmmakers decided to cut the story line in half to end the movie was probably the best place they could have chosen. There was a perfect balance between the following of the journeys of Harry and Voldemort, which was crucial based on the plot of the original story. Kudos to the film makers for their excellent animation scene, which was beautifully crafted, got its point across, and was totally relevant. In addition to cinematic value, the film’s score was well composed to fit the mood of each specific scene. As for the plot, they stuck close enough to the book that it was what people were expecting, but they were far enough away from it that it wasn't overly detailed. All in all, Harry Potter is definitely the movie to choose next time you are heading to the theater.