Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - B+

In IMAX, 146 minutes, PG-13.

David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the best Potter movie to date, finally taking that honor from Alfonso Cuaron’s third film in the series Prisoner of Azkaban. A warning for those that haven’t read the books: you’ll hardly recognize this as a Harry Potter movie. There’s no Hogwarts this time. No Dumbledore. No Quiditch. And tragically little of the exemplary ensemble of British stage actors who make up the Hogwarts faculty (and brought much needed acting chops to the first few films). What’s left? Harry, Ron, Hermione… and Voldemort. Come to find out, that’s all that’s needed.

For the uninitiated…. Well, there’s no place to start. You won’t understand a minute. For the rest, after an attack by death eaters at Ron’s brother’s wedding, our fearless threesome decide returning to Hogwarts is no longer an option. They set about to destroy the six remaining Horcruxes. Problem is, the one horcrux they’ve got they can’t scratch, and they’ve got no idea where the others are or where to start the search. Meanwhile, as you may recall, as long as Harry is alive, Voldemort is susceptible to death, so he and his ever-increasing minions are searching for Harry to kill him.

The beauty of this film is seeing how the young leads have matured. While the supporting adult cast were once leaned upon for gravitas and emotional depth, Emma Watson (Hermione), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Rupert Grint (Ron) now do the heavy lifting themselves. The opening scene in which Hermione erases herself from the memories, and photographs, of her parents in an attempt to keep them safe—leaving her functionally an orphan just like Harry—is particularly affective. Throughout Watson delivers, for the first time fully seeming the intellectual, studying force of the group. Likewise, Grint has matured into an excellent comic actor with surprising reserves of darkness and depth just below the clowning. Finally Radcliffe, whose take on Harry has often been maligned, pulls out the stops. Not the best planner, he’s the spiritual leader of the group—the one who’s cool under pressure- and Radcliffe pulls all that together beautifully in an inspired little dance scene when they find themselves at hopes end.

The supporting cast impresses as always. Ralph Fiennes brings an off-hand evil to Voldemort as he sometimes relishes death, and sometimes brings it callously, almost without thinking. I’d love to see a little more Alan Rickman’s Snape, my favorite character in the series, but when he’s here, he delivers. Helena Bohham Carter’s Bellatrix Lestrange, the most faithful servant of the Dark Lord is gleeful, evil over-the-top fun as she pines to get back in Voldemort’s good graces, tortures Hermione, and brings the most emotional death in the series thus far. Finally, Imelda Stanton as the epitome of a rule-follower gone bad in Dolores Umbridge is pure delight, wringing every drop of malice out of her sugary sweet smile and prose.

This is the first half of a two-part adaptation of the final book in the Potter series. The second half will have more fireworks, more death, and more resolution, all played out no doubt against a backdrop of showy CGI. But it will lean heavily on the emotional and quiet, often slow work of this half. It’s my favorite thus far and sets the table for a fittingly phenomenal ending to J.K. Rowling’s opus. For those interested, I reviewed the book here three years ago.