The End Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt I is the beginning of the end for the Harry Potter franchise. I didn't read the books, so I guess I'm just a muggle, but I enjoyed these a lot. The cast was particularly appealing, and the mechanics of movie making let them grow up at about the same rate as their characters do - a rare case where real life and movies work out together.

I'll miss these movies when there are no more new ones being made. Still, they can't string something like this out indefinitely - at least they shouldn't. It's gotten darker and darker, until you don't want it to go much further. The romantic subplot can't be teased much longer. And we expect and demand some actual battles between Good and Evil.

Still, it seems that there is still a lot to tell, maybe too much. This movie seemed to be full of "new character enter", and new legends and gimmicks that everybody has heard about except for me and maybe Harry. I think he says "Does everybody know about this but me?" at least twice.

Once is about the symbol for the Deathly Hallows - a line in a circle in a triangle. The line symbolizes a wand, the circle a stone and the triangle a cloak. Because cloaks are triangular, I guess. It seems a little late to pull this McGuffin out, but we have a bunch of them: an old lady historian, a brother for Dumbledore, etc.

Then there is a whole Ministry of Magic subplot, a 1984/V for Vendetta style political dystopia. I feel that this was almost forced on Rowling by current events. I don't think it worked well with the rest of the story. Still, it gave a chance to use some great visuals of oppressive architecture.

So, one more movie and it's over. I suppose it  is time.