Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The weakest Harry Potter instalment split into two parts? Oh dear, we're raking in the dough, we're raking in the dough. And unfortunately it phoned it in – the first part is boring. A fairy tale with thriller elements and coincidentally uncovered graves. It's sad, but as a fan, I'm disappointed. The music, the actors, the effects – nothing new, lackluster and drawn out. A brick on you. The second part might finally make you cry; so far it's been nothing but smirking. I had fun making fun of it. Otherwise, I was yawning. Sorry, Harry, you were acting like Frodo, and I won't forgive you for that. A weaker 3 stars. (12/02/2010)

Watching teenagers run around in the woods for 140 minutes is borderline torture. David Yates rips off Nolan's Batman themes at every turn, but doesn't understand that that alone doesn’t make a good movie. Because when the actors don't have anything to work with, and there is not a single memorable scene that will make it worthwhile, the result is more than trivial. An unfinished, poorly made film with no drama, where they drown in lavish camera panoramas and robust music, forgetting everything else that made the Harry Potter franchise a success. (07/22/2023)

The world of magic has entered truly the darkest times, but despite what random critical outbursts might suggest, it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the film adaptation. Yates and Kloves had a challenging task of transforming the "slower and more talkative" part of the Relics into a separate explosive blockbuster. The director stood out with incredible bravura, and whether the Trio is leaving home, the Tale of the Three Brothers is being told, or the horcrux is being destroyed, the magical atmosphere literally shines from the screen. However, Kloves' screenplay occasionally takes shortcuts, and if I didn't have the source material loaded backwards and forwards, I would be quite lost. But even though Bill and Fleur become members of the Order from minute to minute, when they were omitted in the Prince, and Minister Scrimgeour steps onto the scene only to quickly descend from it, the criticisms are hard to find in the consequences. The overall impression for me screams that from four hundred pages full of expectations of great things and the fulfillment of smaller ongoing goals, an epic fantasy full of intoxicating moments and such sincere private drama has been created that it takes one's breath away. The Phoenix and the Prince have gained a successful companion, and if David Yates was the king after the previous installment, he has slowly run out of room to climb. (11/27/2010)

I saw the first four Harry Potter films and stopped there, as I’m not a fan of the series. I went to see Deathly Hollows: Part I only because of its attractive billboards. And I was bored to death. The beginning of the series introduced us to the characters and the story’s lovely environment and, in the case of Alfonso Cuarón’s contribution to the series, brought us a unique, wonderfully dark film adventure that showed a lot of inventiveness on the director’s part. The films had their own stories and always took the audience somewhere. In comparison to them, Deathly Hollows: Part I is only a protracted masturbatory porridge, slavishly and without any creative input following the original book, the qualities of which I don’t know, but if they’re anything like this film, I’ll gladly pass. (11/18/2010)

The first half of the great Potter finale is unexpectedly quiet and conversational, but it certainly doesn't hurt, because it is without exception superbly acted. The establishing part, which makes you realize how far not only the characters, but also their representatives have come since 2001, is probably the best of all. The tension is almost palpable for the whole 140 minutes, the gloomy atmosphere as well, but the screenwriter and director still know when they can afford something to lighten things up and the viewer doesn't get bored. The action start was top notch, while the ending with Bellatrix and Dobby is one of the most impressive moments of the whole series. And Alexandre Desplat got to compose the music, which was a safe bet. (09/11/2015)