The seventh installment of the Harry Potter franchise starts with seven Harry's leaving Privet Drive. If you saw the 2nd movie (which hopefully you saw them all because these movies aren't stand-alone ever), you'll know how this works. Ron, Hermione and four others disguise themselves as Harry in order to get our hero out of his home and to safety. This scene is amazingly intense, and that was my first sign that I wasn't going to have a lot of trouble with this film, although I did sometimes.
Actually, I'm incapable of giving any Harry Potter movie a negative review, just because it's almost impossible to ruin these incredible stories. That doesn't mean I won't say anything bad about the movie though. While it is definitely the most well-acted, beautifully filmed, emotionally deep Harry Potter film to date, it is also the weakest of the series to date, simply because it is only an introduction to the highly anticipated Part 2. Imagine the previous six films as if they were 'The Matrix.' In that sense, this film is 'The Matrix Reloaded' and Part 2 will be 'Revolutions,' although I'm hoping Part 2 won't be as disappointing. Part 1 starts out with a lot of intense action but starts to lag, for a running time of over 2 hours, trying to fit in details that will give a better understanding for Part 2, but so much time is basically wasted stalling for the abrupt break/ending that it just makes this one missing something, although we all know what that is.
As an introduction, they somehow find it necessary to introduce literally every character in the story, just as it was done in the book (although it was okay there). Even though I read this particular book three times, the mentioning of so many characters almost confused me, so I know it wouldn't be any more helpful for those who haven't read the books. This aspect makes the story somewhat hard to follow, even if it is stretched out unnecessarily. That being said, they could've saved time by not introducing so many characters and shortening some slow scenes, and then Part 1 and 2 could've been one movie.
I know they pulled it off to look like it wasn't all for the money, but it's difficult for me to believe that. Simply because they were separated, I don't know if I will enjoy Part 2 as much as I would've if it the two parts were combined, and since it's difficult to see either one as stand-alone movies I can already say that neither one will be the best films of the franchise, although they are the most intense. I'll give it some credit, because Harry Potter is just so damn cool, but I don't see myself appreciating the split any time soon. Maybe it has something to do with everyone always "wanting more" and actually giving them more, but that doesn't mean another cliffhanger.
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