I Laughed, I Cried, It Was Better Than CATS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I

This review is only spoiler-free in a loose sense. I won't spoil details, but I'm assuming you've all read the books, so you already know what happens. And if you didn't, now you do.

No matter how many times I see these films, I am always blown away. Harry Potter films have never just met my expectations, they have and will always exceed my expectations a hundred times over - ever since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: November 16, 2001.

I know we -- meaning the Harry Potter fans -- say this every time, but this is the one we've been waiting for. I feel like Michael Jackson, or those guys from the end of Pirates 3 - "This is it."

First of all, the pacing in this film was incredible. And it's only the first half! (okay, more like the first 2/3, but still) If you've read the book, you know that those first 24 chapters seem a bit "slow" or "boring." But they fit it all into this film very well. It was a roller coaster from the get-go, even to the point where it felt a bit rushed. It moved from big event to big event without showing us much of the planning stages. The Trio spent weeks planning their assault on the Ministry, and took every precaution when they visited Godric's Hollow. Of course, BookHarry is very different than MovieHarry, and I will say this: the decisions that MovieHarry makes are true to MovieHarry's character.

The main reason that Book- and MovieHarry are so different is because of the little details that they've progressively left out over the past decade. MovieHarry never learned that he inherited Grimmauld Place and Kreacher when Sirius died. He also doesn't have the knowledge of the inner workings of Voldemort's mind that he has by this point in the books. This is dealt with very well, though. The screenwriters managed to slip in little details that implied Harry's ownership of Grimmauld place, and his knowledge of Voldemort's mind was worked in as well, through several dream sequences. It wasn't worked in in the same way as the books, but it works. (wow, tongue twister!)

As far as new characters go, we see many in this film. Some were introduced earlier in the books: Bill Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, and Rufus Scrimgeour (the new Minister). These introductions were all taken care of in the opening scenes of HP7.1, and it was done rather well. We didn't get much backstory on the characters, but none was needed for the purposes of the film. The other characters, Death Eaters mostly, weren't introduced until book 7 anyway, so there's not much to talk about there. Hermione's parents were introduced as well - if "introduced" means "we saw the back of their heads for about 2 seconds."

This film also saw many of our favorites from movies 1 and 2 (Ollivander and Dobby) and our old enemies (Umbridge, and a whole slew of Dementors).

The acting in HP7.1 was incredible, as per usual. The Trio did not have any older actors - Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, et. al. - to fall back (or to be overshadowed by) on in much of this film, so it really gave the viewers a chance to see how they act on their own. They all did a phenomenal job.

Daniel Radcliffe was, once again, wonderful as Harry. His acting continues to improve, and I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever hit his "stride," or if he'll just keep improving.

Rupert Grint as Ron has definitely improved. His comedic timing is wonderful, as we know, but in this film we also got to see him take on a few heavy scenes and carry them off wonderfully.

Emma Watson as Hermione has also improved. I feel like I can say nothing but good things about these three, but it's true! She, too, took on some rather heavy stuff in this film and pulled it off with much awesomeness.

We saw a good deal of Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, which is always exciting. He was even creepier and more epic in this film than he has been in the past - possibly with the exception of the graveyard scene in HP4. Fiennes best scene, for me, was tied between his first scene and his last in the film. Both were wonderfully chilling.

The entire movie was very emotional. There were happy moments, scary moments, angry moments, and sad moments. By the time the credits started to roll, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, or rejoice. I may have ended up doing all four...

Warning: here be spoilers-ish. Don't read on if you're skittish.

Now, the two scenes I know you're dying to hear about: that so-called "nude scene" and the ending/split.

Nude scene:

Okay, I can kind of see what all the hype was about. That said, because of all the hype, I expected this to be much worse than it was. The context of this scene is when Ron is trying to destroy the locket Horcrux. When the locket opens, the bit of Riddle's soul that was in there makes a last-ditch attempt to save its life. It turns into Harry and Hermione - really creepy versions of them that look like vampires - and they talk to Ron about how they don't love him, they love each other. It cuts to Ron and back again, and when it cuts back, RiddleHarry and RiddleHermione are kissing in a rather...unclothed manner. The entire thing is very smoky and hazy, so they are very well covered, but it is still obvious that Hermione has no shirt on. They don't actually have legs, so anything below the waist is a non-issue.

Ending scene:

Sometime over the summer, Entertainment Weekly published an article.

Part 1, by the way, will end at about Chapter 24 of the book, with Voldemort gaining possession of the Elder wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows that allow the bearer to conquer death.

I can safely say that this is EXACTLY where the movie ends. MuggleCast even went so far as to predict the manner of editing and the ending clip of the film. They were correct. I do believe that this is quite possibly the biggest cliffhanger ending in the history of ever.

Until next time (July 15, 2011).