This is kind of cool. I'm reviewing a movie before it's been officially released in certain parts of the US, and certainly before most of the US official releases have finished showing. This is because a number of houses (dorms) at my university pooled together and booked a 9pm 'pre-premiere' over at Navy Pier. That is, over at Navy Pier's IMAX theater, the biggest of big screens. Definitely how I think this movie should be seen.
Anyway, enough bragging.
As the last chapter of the Harry Potter story unfolds, our heroes are no longer heading off to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts but instead are refugees, fleeing persecution from both the dark army of Voldemort but also from the corrupt Ministry of Magic. Aided by trusty pals Ron and Hermione, Harry's task is to find the seven Horcruxes - artifacts where Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul so as to make himself difficult to kill - and destroy them.
I would say that Deathly Hallows suffers from the usual issues of the Harry Potter movie series - it's uncertain as to what sort of movie it's trying to be. I think there's a great deal of pressure to include the most well-loved parts of the books, or to somehow summarize the books, and what results is what our friends at TV Tropes call 'mood whiplash'. One moment there are massive car wrecks and spells flying left and right, the next we roll our eyes as the three teenaged stars turn up the romance/angst/drama level. Furthermore, are we watching a children's movie about magical wizards, where heavy-handed acting is par for the course? Or is this a very serious Issue Movie, as the constant barrage of Nazi symbolism seems to be trying to pound into our heads? Even at a 146 minute runtime there isn't room for it to be all of these things at once.
But do note that when it succeeds, it succeeds. Helena Bonham-Carter finally proves that her Bellatrix Lestrange is not just a 'wacky' gothed-out cartoon but a seriously deranged and actually frightening nemesis. The movie's climax is just as emotionally hard-hitting as it should be. The characters do sometimes break out of their cardboard packaging and show some real humanity. The action sequences are a visual delight, and the expansive wide-angle shots of the gorgeous British landscapes through which our heroes travel in search of the Horcruxes. So even if Hallows may not hold up under a detailed analysis, it is an enjoyable experience from within the moment of its viewing, and did an excellent job of getting me antsy for Part 2.
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