User blog comment:Kacieh/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1 Review Page/@comment-1960490-20101124213715

"You cannot fight this war alone... he's too strong." These words resound throughout Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, a magnificently moody masterpiece. This film is by far the best of the series, even without as much support from the colorful adult players. Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint only rarely deliver an ucnonvincing line in the new film, and their romantic entanglements, anger, sadness, and fear infuse the film with a dark, moody aura. In many scenes, the three are in a dark atmosphere, cold and wet, staring off moodily. However, these silent, thoughtful forest scenes are not the only pieces of the puzzle! They are punctuated by a series of rapid-fire chase scenes and action sequences, as well as short, memorable appearances from all of your favorite actors.

The villains, too, add a dark sense of urgency to the film. Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), and newcomers Nick Moran (Scabior) and Peter Mullan (Yaxley)  delight in making us shriek in terror, while Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Timothy Spall (Wormtail), and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) give us the perspective of Death Eaters trapped in the lies they've lived and evil acts they wished they never performed. Fan favorite Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge) returns, but rumors of a wand battle that wasn't in the book are unfortunately false.

Among other unfortunate cuts are explanation of Dumbledore's past, an appearance from the delightful Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter) that we'd all been hoping for, Harry's birthday party, and explanation of Regulus Arcturus Black's connection to Lord Voldemort. The most disappointing cut, however, is that of the chapter "The Dursleys Departing": the poignant moment that set the sad, dark, thoughtful pace of the final book is missing. The exchanges between Dudley, Aunt Petunia, and Harry I had so looked forward to seeing are all but under an Invisibility Cloak now.

Two new scenes that almost make up for these cuts include Hermione tearily erasing her parent's memories and removing herself from family photographs and a poignant dance between Harry and Hermione.

Supporting good guys like Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), Mr. Ollivander (John Hurt) and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley (Mark Williams and Julie Walters) seem to go through the motions with little to say and little to do. Indeed, even Robbie Coltrane seems a little bored, and a bit depressed for his character as well.

New characters Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) and Xenophilius Lovegood (Rhys Ifans) are fantastic additions to the cast, fulfilling their roles with great gusto and skill. The trio's polyjuice potion doubles in the Ministry of Magic sequences match the trio's mannerisms to the point of where you think that Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint are portraying these polyjuice potion doubles via special effects a la James Cameron's Avatar.

As for the plot, it moves along at a rapid, exciting pace balanced with character development between the trio. Oddly enough, though, the film is also infused with a bizarre sense of humor. Even in the film's climax at Malfoy Manor, Dobby can be heard squeaking out one-liners and unscrewing chandeliers for no apparent reason. However, the last two scenes make up for the out-of-place humor.

Following a particularly exciting slow-motion knife sequence, Dobby dies and makes three quarters of the audience cry their eyes out. Following this sequence, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand and finishes off the movie with a lightning bolt to the sky. Truly spectacular.