Double Feature: ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ Review: Magic isn’t just Fun Anymore.

Dear fellow Muggles, it’s time once again to congregate in strange clothes robes for the next installation of the story about the Boy who Lived. I did my Potter-head duties and dragged my half-conscious boyfriend to a 3:30 a.m. screening during a rather windy early morning. Of course, I wore my now vintage Hogwarts crest shirt from the Warner Bros. Store from before The Sorcerer’s Stone was released. It’s been nearly a decade, and the time has come to begin to say good bye until the DVD/Blu-Ray release extravaganza.

Since I went to my first midnight madness screening nine years ago in wizard’s robe, I’ve brought along my high expectations, my own mental pictures, and how I had interpreted the characters of J.K. Rowling. For the majority of the releases, I was an easy customer to please and some portions of the movies I thought did a better job than I had constructing this magical realm from building blocks of words.

Then the magic disappeared. It was almost as if growing up, paying bills, and holding jobs had slowly sucked the magic of the movies out like a Death Eater. Directors changed, as did the styles, the world itself started to become a jumbled mess, and the storyline of the books were maimed in order to fit a running time for theaters to make a profit. I was happy to hear that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be given the proper breathing room to develop the darkness the book encapsulates.

So how do I account for manhandling of audience’s emotions? Director David Yates once again likes to focus on the emo-brooding a lot more than he does on character development and overall timing. Stay on a scene for too long and it begins to feel awkward. Fly by death sequences are possibly my least favorite as both people and animals are disposed of faster than we may have noticed what happened. I remember being upset over Hedwig the owl’s death in the book, and Harry remembers her murder many times over. But in the movie (because of jump cuts, shakey-camera work, and real time), we hardly see the curse hit her or hear anymore from Harry over her. Instead, we’re given sad faces, worried faces, and faces that I’m not quite sure what they are supposed to be showing in order to express emotions. Which is a shame because of the amount of thoughts that take place in Harry’s head would add complexity to his character, but we are blind and deaf to them in the film.

Now here’s the paragraph where I get my film geek to battle my HP fan girl self and try to grapple with the more questionable additions to the movie. I was severely disappointed to note the overuse of shakey-camera use. While other Potter installments have the signature glossy production, this one is almost half-and-half. Nothing quite takes the intensity out of an emotional argument or a spooky search like not being able to see what’s going on. In fact, I have it written in my notes over four times. We get it: this is edgy Harry Potter! No need to torture us with it. Oh, and speaking of torture, did anyone else notice the eerie high pitch noise used almost every fifteen minutes in the film? I wanted to scream they made my ears rings so much while distracting my focus off the film. Hell, I might scream right now since my ears are still ringing. Also, I get the fact that this is Harry at seventeen (I promise I won’t forget), but why all the random sexy teasing? We get a bra-less Ginny, lots of Harry’s chest, and even a side swipe of Hermione’s upper torso. With all of the sexual tension, will somebody just please get laid so the story can move on? Way too much unnecessary credit to support that this is Harry Potter: All Grown Up. Maybe this is me playing the parental advocate, but a lot of little kids are going to be taken to this movie whether it’s slapped with a PG-13 or not. If you’re going to use that kind of witchcraft; you better do it right and for an audience bigger than the fan fiction writers. May I also list the Nazi throwback as a bit too literal? We have everything from propaganda, eugenics, interrogations, Gestapo-like police, and the most evil of evils running the show. How like life, I was almost waiting for the History Channel logo to crop up at the bottom of the screen touting an episode of “Pawn Stars” to follow the magical Nazi show. I pity the person wandering into the movie without seeing any of the previous films nor have read any of the books. Make sure you catch up/freshen up on the latest before settling into your theater sear. I have come to expect that filmmakers will take creative liberties with the storyline and continuity may not always be followed. Try not to hold too many hard feelings on that one.

Negativity aside, there were plenty of fun moments to indulge in. Much of the wit was spared from the cutting room floor, and the audience enjoys a well deserved moment of lightness in film full of doom and gloom. We get tensions eased with a Wesley one-liner or a silly dance number between friends. Plus I loved the jab at Twi-hards in the movie: “Midnight just sounds better.” Also, the parallels between Lord of the Rings and the Slytherin Horcrux are uncanny. Hooray for subliminal pop culture references. As an ensemble, I thought the acting was incredible, if only greatly underused. I would have loved to see more of Bill Nighy’s Minister of Magic and Alan Rickman’s Snape who has a whopping five or so lines of dialog. If he doesn’t get his dues in the final one, I’m not going to be the only one rioting on message boards. My single complaint over the cast is over Harry Potter himself. Dammit Daniel, I used to plaster posters of you on my wall when I was twelve. Now I watch you acting onscreen and it’s damn near painful how badly I want you to let loose and really act out. I’m talking Oscar-winning tirades, tearful moments of loss, a deep set frustration, anything. Give me anything to let me know what this means to the character. Had I muted your dialog, I would have close to no idea whether you just lost your pet owl, how your girlfriend makes you feel, or how pissed you are at your best friend accusing you of having illicit wand swapping with his girl. Don’t tell me, show me.

Yet we as an audience do get our own sentimental moments, some overdrawn while others succeed the poignant feelings the filmmakers were after. For example, we are given one last look under the cupboard with Harry. The camera pans over his morose face and unto a dusty shelf that holds the toy soldiers he plays with in the first film. He’s leaving the house for good because it’s time to grow up and get out (and conquer evil, but that’s a little harder for us to relate to). What’s possibly the cruelest thing Warner Bros. have done is delay the second portion until well into the next year. Thanks, way to leave us open-ended for over six months.

But it’s another thing to take what you are given in blind faith. We should have the skepticism of a shopper trying food samples at a grocery store. Who knows if that employee was the one who prepared it? How do you know its not expired food your eating? We trust we will be served only the best, because they are trying to sell us a product. As connoisseurs of fan culture, we should be able to demand a better product, higher quality. We legions of  the faithful should feel catered to and respected, not pandered to in order to keep us placated. It is our millions and billions of hard earned money that is supplying their wallets for the next movie. How good will it turn out depends on the people that go to the films and let their opinions be heard.

Potter fans won’t be disappointed with the latest addition to the franchise. Fast enough to make your head spin at times, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ covers a lot more detail than previous  films. Though plenty dark and depressing, It’s still fun enough to enjoy the characters people have grown to love and with enough action to keep non-Potter heads at bay. B-

Let your opinions be heard below, Potter fans!