Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 opened while I was on the Hawaiian vacation and I couldn't leave paradise for the three hours it takes for this movie to finish. And after three hours, there is still probably another 3 hours to come.
The problem with the later Harry Potter films (the Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows) is the novels. The books after Goblet of Fire had a lot of exposition of when, where, and why of Voldemort that needed to be explained. Reading of such is a more natural experience with the story and history of Voldemort. Unfortunately, the last few films tried to condense these stories into two and a half hour movies. Plot points were lost and sacrificed for the sake of movie telling. Threads that made sense in words didn't when filmed, because of the missing information.
The Deathly Hallows novel gets the privilege of getting stretched out to two films so that all its information can be filmed. And this part was two and a half hours long but got through about two thirds of the book. Yet, the early part of this book was nothing but Hermione, Harry, and Ron wandering the wilderness. They were supposed to find Horcruxes, but did a terrible job at it. So did, Rowling as she just abandoned that thread to get to the ultimate battle.
I thought they could've gotten rid of the wilderness parts, but upon re-reading the book, it needed to be fully fleshed out so that the story can continue unabated.
These last few Harry Potter films have been slightly confusing because of all the exposition. This one isn't, but I can't wait for the second half.
3 of 5 stars.
The problem with the later Harry Potter films (the Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows) is the novels. The books after Goblet of Fire had a lot of exposition of when, where, and why of Voldemort that needed to be explained. Reading of such is a more natural experience with the story and history of Voldemort. Unfortunately, the last few films tried to condense these stories into two and a half hour movies. Plot points were lost and sacrificed for the sake of movie telling. Threads that made sense in words didn't when filmed, because of the missing information.
The Deathly Hallows novel gets the privilege of getting stretched out to two films so that all its information can be filmed. And this part was two and a half hours long but got through about two thirds of the book. Yet, the early part of this book was nothing but Hermione, Harry, and Ron wandering the wilderness. They were supposed to find Horcruxes, but did a terrible job at it. So did, Rowling as she just abandoned that thread to get to the ultimate battle.
I thought they could've gotten rid of the wilderness parts, but upon re-reading the book, it needed to be fully fleshed out so that the story can continue unabated.
These last few Harry Potter films have been slightly confusing because of all the exposition. This one isn't, but I can't wait for the second half.
3 of 5 stars.