Plot: Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) grabs control, and seeks to kill Harry and his other opponents. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermionie (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) take to the wilderness to hide, and to work on destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Review: Deathly Hallows makes no pretense of bringing along non-fans who would undoubtedly be lost. The movie dispenses with silly spells, school-boy games, and father figures from the earlier movies. Here our heros are struggling adolescents who must rise to the challenge to save lives and save the world.
The best parts are the subtle interactions between our three heros, and the fighting is just a side plot. All of the main actors have matured and are good actors, with Emma Watson delivering some great lines and reaction shots.
The wilderness scenes were beautiful, but there were too many of them -- this section is too long in the book too.
The end was not satisfying; it needed cliffhanger or a major turn in the story to punctuate the ending.
I am sure the five hour combined version of this movie, when it is eventually done, will be more satisfying. I want to see it that way next summer when part 2 comes out.
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Directed by: David Yates
Rating: 2.5 stars; This is a worthy effort. Enjoyable but it falls short in funness.
More: The opening sequence is unforgetable when Hermione, calls her parents, and then erases their memories of her saying "Obliviate."
