If you haven’t yet seen the eighth and final instalment of the most successful franchise of all time, then you may want to re-familiarise yourself with Deathly Hallows Part 1 (film 7) before you do. The plot is not easy to follow.
Sadly, after the outstanding sixth film, part one of the two-part finale is an underwhelming and overlong drag, as we watch Harry, Ron and Hermione go camping for over two hours, searching for the many hidden Horcruxes (the segmented parts of Voldemort’s soul that need to be destroyed before they attempt to defeat him in person).
The film feels at times more like a very long made-for-TV drama with some high production values. Kloves’s script also sticks slavishly to the book (in my view probably the weakest novel in the series), and although offers the occasional touching moments between the three leads, most of the time it’s repetitive and uninteresting.
However, don’t be put off. The series ends on a high with Part 2. It’s just a shame you have to sit through Part 1 first.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010), directed by David Yates, is available on Blu-ray disc and DVD from Warner Bros. Pictures, Certificate 12.
