Friday, November 19, 2010

The End of a Journey... Begins (a review on Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1)

'The Boy Who Lived' remains a symbol for each we are fighting for: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, and the need to keep fighting.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is not like any other Harry Potter films the world has seen. It's the climax of the ultimate battle between good and evil in the wizarding world. With his mentor and possibly the greatest wizard of all Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter must seek the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them in order to defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all. But nowhere is safe. With Voldemort and his Death Eeathers taking over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nowhere is safe for Harry, Ron, and Hermione.


As a literature major, I was able to appreciate the film's emotional intensity by trying to put myself in the characters' situations. This is what is called "vicarious experience". I felt the pain of Hermione as she was about to leave her family in order to join Harry and Ron in their quest. I felt Ron's frustration and worry towards his family's safety as their chances of finding the rest of the Horcruxes are as good as finding a needle in the haystack. I also felt Harry's lifelong loneliness of not having parents. I never experienced any of Hermione's, Ron's, and Harrry's experiences, but the presentation in the film was so good that I was forced to empathize.

On the other hand, I was sort of able to relate to some scenes, like when Ron's deepest, darkest insecurities taunted him right before he was about to stab the horcrux with the sword of Gryffindor. I also saw a little bit of my personal life during the Ron/Hermione moments. However, if I were to elaborate on these things, I'd do it in another writing.

The mood of the film was, for the majority of it, serious. Deaths occur and the trio have nowhere to go to and no one to turn to without risking that person's life. However, the film has its humor, which is good because if the movie didn't have any humor then it would've been a boring movie. Besides, the humor and the scene where Harry and Hermione share a dance show that at even the darkest of times, one can still choose to be happy.

While I give the film a 9 out of 10, I wish there were some things in the film that should have been elaborated. For instance, the character of the Dursleys didn't come full circle. There was no change from being people who looked at Harry as a waste of space to someone they actually care about. It would've been great if the film showed this change in Dursleys, just saying.

Furthermore, I wish the film had presented more background story of Kreacher and why he comes off as bile and oftentimes mean. If only we had seen what truly happened with Regulus Black and Kreacher when they sought to take the horcrux, then the outcome would've given audiences a better understanding of Kreacher as a character.

If these things had been done, then Deathly Hallows would've been the perfect movie. But then again, as we all know, nothing is perfect.

Part one of Deathly Hallows is done and now we have to wait eight months to get through before THE final Potter movie comes out. The question is: are true-blooded Harry Potter fans ready for the end?




Credit go to the following for the images used in this post:

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