Almost a decade after we first saw Harry Potter and his friends come to life on the big screen, the film one of the series two part finale has arrived. The boy wizard’s popularity hasn’t declined much, over the years, even after the book series drew to a close in 2007. Midnight screenings of Deathly Hallows sold out across the country.
Their affection for Harry, Ron and Hermione seems to know no bounds. In a midnight show in Los Angeles, the laughter, gasps, applause and tears of the audience often overwhelmed the dialog. Deathly Hallows is as much the end of a coming of age experience for the fans as it is for Harry. Many have grown up along side the young wizard, and can barely remember a world in which the next Harry Potter film or book wasn’t coming soon.
Though earlier films have been dark, none have been as frightening as Hallows because Harry has never stood quite so alone. Of course, he has his trusty companions, Ron and Hermione, at his side, but there are no adults to turn to in Deathly Hallows. Those the trio seek out cannot be trusted, and those they trust must be avoided for their own protection. Harry has grown up, and now he must face a dangerous world alone.
Director David Yates really drives the feeling of the isolation of growing up home by crafting Deathly Hallows into something that feels a bit like a quiet, dramatic zombie movie. The trio are not just alone in their struggle, they are, for the most part, alone in the world as they travel through the shadows and the empty places of Britain trying to avoid He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Hallows may be slower than earlier films, but it still manages to be engrossing, particularly for older audiences. Anyone whose grown up with Harry, or remembers the real world terror and loneliness of taking those first steps into adulthood that Yates is capturing so effortlessly here, will be absorbed from the opening frame to the final, shocking cut.
Hallows may, however, be too intense and emotionally complex for younger children. There is a great deal of violence, some of it more realistic and bloody than one expects from the franchise though no part of the film even approaches gore. It still has the moments of comic relief that youngsters will appreciate, but the emotional turmoil, and deadly peril, that lies around every corner may simply confuse and overwhelm those too young to really understand them. The dangers of Deathly Hallows lie not in giant snakes or dragons, but in the greed, hatred, jealousy and fear that turns human beings into monsters.
For those that are ready for it, however, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, promises a thrilling, emotional and satisfying experience that should not be missed.
