Reviews
Empire Magazine
Nick de Semylen
“What should feel fresh and urgent, a cross-country chase flick, is bogged down for long stretches by a curse of Excrucius Overplottio.... Still, a decent smattering of magic moments and tension’s pumped up sky-high. Bring on Part 2.”
26/11/2010
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The Guardian
Peter Bradshaw
“But it has to be said that now there are weird and, for me, rather unexpected signs of life. Simply by not being set in Hogwarts, this movie feels looser, freer... I have become resigned to the Harry Potter movies having only as much interest and power as one of the rides in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. They will be efficiently made, interesting-looking entertainment. Anything more would be magic.”
18/11/2010
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The Daily Mail
Chris Tookey
“I can see why J.K.Rowling regards this as her favourite film of the series so far. It is not the most lucid or entertaining of her yarns, but her three leads have matured into genuinely interesting characters. ”
19/11/2010
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The New York Times
A. O. Scott
“While there is still one more film to go (Part 2 is scheduled for release in July), this one manages to be both a steppingstone and a reasonably satisfying experience in its own right.”
18/11/2010
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The Spectator
Deborah Ross
“This will be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if you’re a fan, and Deathly Dull if you are not, but you knew that already. ”
20/11/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
David Gritten
“The seventh film in the Harry Potter series, by now a predictably reliable brand, achieves precisely what it sets out to do, laying the groundwork for next year’s final episode in this decade-long franchise... Screenwriter Steve Kloves seems determined to cram in as much detail from Rowling’s works as he can; and while his reluctance to dump subplots and minor characters may appease more zealous readers, it disfigures the film. There’s too much information, yet paradoxically it feels padded out. ”
18/11/2010
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Time Out
Tom Huddleston
“Anyone who complained that the previous episode in the ‘Harry Potter’ saga felt too much like scene-setting for the final showdown will be equally disappointed with ‘Deathly Hallows Part 1’. A film with no beginning and no end but a whole lot of expository middle, this is the least satisfying instalment in the series since Chris Columbus folded up his director’s chair.”
16/11/2010
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The Times
Kate Muir
“By dividing J. K. Rowling’s final book into two films, the director David Yates drags out the boy wizard’s last moments in the spotlight for far too long, resulting in a flaccid narrative and an unresolved ending for Part 1. Perhaps the cast and crew have spent too much time hanging around the Dementors, because the joy seems to have been sucked out of the world’s most successful film franchise. ”
19/11/2010
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Total Film
Andy Lowe
“It's muddled and meandering and over-stretched - like the book. It's padded with rambling asides - like the book...”
11/11/2010
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The Sunday Times
Cosmo Landesman
“The Harry Potter film as we know it, with its celebration of endearing youthfulness and innocent wonder at all things magical, is no more. This new, post-childhood Potter hasn’t developed a voice or vision of its own. It’s a bit of this (Twilight) and a bit of that (Lord of the Rings). My guess is that it’s too scary and slow for young viewers, but not scary and cool enough for young teenagers who aren’t already Potter-spotters.”
21/11/2010
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The Independent
Anthony Quinn
“It feels like the longest, deathliest panto ever made – and still it isn't over... Perhaps I should be grateful they didn't split it into quarters, with an instalment for each season of the year.”
19/11/2010
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The Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
“To be fair to "Deathly Hallows," the filmmakers have tried hard to fill the proceedings with battles and chases and debilitating curses. Genuine filmmaking excitement, however, is harder to provide.”
18/11/2010
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The Financial Times
Nigel Andrews
“Elsewhere, the dialogue is like wandering accidentally into a Berlitz lesson for a rare language. “How is it you happen to have the sword of Rippenhall [sic?]?” The pace is slow – even, surely, for addicts – except when things whoosh into life a little with the special effects, which include power toilets designed to vortex undesirable people to the nether regions. (Don’t give Ryanair ideas.) Stuart Craig’s production design, including his black-tiled, gold-trimmed enormity of an underworld, is still the saga’s classiest asset.”
17/11/2010
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