Perhaps it’s only because it’s robbed of its conclusion – or even just of the humour that can inflect a bleak-plotted book more easily than its purposely dark cinematic counterpart – but so far The Deathly Hallows feels like a series of cheap plot devices.
Five remaining horcruxes (needed in order to vanquish Voldemort) equals five little pre-packaged quests. Three parting gifts equals three convenient escape hatches for later on. Three symbols equals the key to something that won’t be revealed just yet. And portentous dreams and visions aplenty offer clues to survival and success.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One sees Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) on the run from ever more powerful and better-established enemies without the wealth of protection and advice previously afforded by the physical sanctuary and veteran teaching staff of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Directed by David Yates. |
For the casual observer or even – heaven forbid – the Harry Potter skeptic, with Dumbledore dead and Hogwarts in ruins, there’s not all that much left to enjoy. Snape and Voldemort largely plot behind the scenes, leaving Helena Bonham Carter’s bug-eyed Bellatrix Lestrange to dispense the action.
Fans of the book will enjoy seeing (half of) the last Harry Potter instalment brought to life before their eyes by a Who’s Who of mostly British acting talent – this time round the regular cast is joined by Bill Nighy and Rade Serbedzija as well as the returning Michael Gambon (appearing very briefly as Dumbledore) and Miranda Richardson (as Rita Skeeter) – with the added benefit of the expanded background, characterization, and exposition that fit into a tome of many hundred pages.
Without that foundation, at least, it feels as if the second act is wasted on a solitary excursion that robs us of even the surviving members of the supporting cast in order to have Harry and Hermione bond a bit in isolation while hiding in the wilderness only to end up rehashing with Ron his jealousy of their closeness (didn’t we just get closure on that triangle?) and have the object of their quest of the moment delivered into their hands.
There is a beautifully animated segment by Ben Hibon (who has just been handed the reigns to a “darker” reinvention of Peter Pan) which fills in the backstory of the titular Deathly Hallows, though it isn’t subtle about its influences. By the same token, an evil piece of jewellery worn in shifts on a chain around the main characters’ necks tends to subject them to dark moods and ominous whisperings, a lot like a certain One Ring, right down to the sound design.
In keeping with Harry Potter tradition, The Deathly Hallows: Part One finds time for amusing magical hijinks – unfortunately, their success, particularly in the case of a well-disguised incursion into a newly usurped and hostile Ministry of Magic (such is the growing power of Voldemort), comes at the expense of the ever-mounting tension of the story, in which Harry’s friends and allies are reduced to a mere handful in an increasingly unfriendly world.
Even though the young leads are performing better than ever, without any of the franchise’s more substantial actors apportioned any limelight – save unrecognizable, noseless Ralph Fiennes as the whisper-voiced Lord Voldemort – there is a vague lack of gravity to the proceedings.
Some critics are saying that the returning Dobby (a CGI house-elf voiced by Toby Jones), who has been absent from the Harry Potter film universe since 2002’s Chamber of Secrets, steals the show; indeed, with a scene that doesn’t hold a candle to its Yoda equivalent, he pretty well does.
But that’s because the climax is not included – and make no mistake, Part One means director David Yates has no qualms about ending on a cliffhanger – so we get none of the emotion of the last few films in their most powerful moments. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two is scheduled for release next July.