Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1

With The Order of the Phoenix, David Yates managed to turn the stodgiest of all the Potter novels into the most spectacular of the films. In light of this, The Half-Blood Prince was something of a disappointment, lacking in tension and energy. Therefore, it is with some relief that we can say that the first part of The Deathly Hallows marks something of a return to form.

The weaknesses of the film come not so much from poor execution as from the nature of being only the first half of a story. Thus the film is almost continually setting things up, but only reaching the odd small climactic moment along the way. It also has to contend with the weight of having to set up not just one, but two sets of McGuffins (the horcruxes and the deathly hallows) - the tension between these will hopefully pay dramatic dividends in the second half, but here it adds alot of exposition and a slight lack of focus. The other drawback being that for much of the first half of the novel, the main characters are somewhat stuck in their quest, stuck in a tent in remote parts of the country rather than having fun at Hogwarts with lots of other characters to interact with.

Bearing that in mind, Yates keeps the action moving remarkably well and will whisk you along to the end without your really noticing that two and a quarter hours have just passed on the journey. His three young leads have now totally grown into their roles and give good solid performances whilst a who's who of characters from the previous films come and go rather quickly - blink and you might miss Alan Rickman or John Hurt here. Only Helena Bonham-Carter of the adults really gets any dramatic moments to play with.

What works and works really well, is the sense of tension that Yates creates - this is now a threatening world that our young heroes inhabit and it starts to show. Visually it is also spectacular - most notably in Yates' depiction of the Ministry of Magic, which has now become a kind of Orwellian nightmare and is the setting for the most stunning sequence in the film. There are other successses - the animated sequence for the tale of the three brothers is an original touch that works wonderfully and the loss of a character in the final act is genuinely moving.

All of this bodes well for part 2 next June, which should start with the raid on Gringotts bank and finish with the battle of Hogwarts.

Overall - 7/10 It can never quite escape the fact that it is only half a film, so its slightly unfair to rate it by itself, but it does its job entertainingly well and sets the scene for what should be a truly spectacular finale.