Film 101: Any successful movie must have a beginning, middle and end. The rule also applies to movies that fit into a franchise, such as the Harry Potter films. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has no ending, just a point where they press pause until Part 2 comes out. Not fair.

I feel that if I’m going to see a film, I should be seeing a beginning, middle and end.
In this much darker and moody chapter of the series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is on the run while at the same time is in search of horcruxes. They are magical items that if all found and destroyed, can also destroy the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Feinnes). That’s about the entirety of this film. It’s one long chase scene.

Although fans of the book would argue this film leaves out plenty of details, I would argue that the film retains too many details. If you don’t recall all the characters from the previous films, you could very easily get lost in the casting. Again, not fair to the film audience.

There are also unnecessary scenes used for the purpose of creating drama, which don’t advance the film. Take for example when Ron Weasley is wearing one of the soon to be destroyed horcruxes. Harry knows from wearing it himself that it puts the wearer in a bad mood. When Ron puts it on, he gets in a bad mood and eventually leaves. This breaks up the team and puts them further in jeopardy. The problem could have simply been resolved by taking the horcrux off. All of the characters in the scene knew it.

That said, it’s set beautifully. You get to see the characters in amazingly brilliant settings as they teleport from one locale to another to stay safe. The high production value and special effects were entertaining, but not nearly enough to sustain.

What is interesting is that Harry Potter isn’t the real champion of this story. He’s the main reason for what’s going on, but fellow protagonist Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is the real brains behind the operation. She’s the one getting them out of a sticky situation. She’s the one coming up with the next step. She’s the one who figures the big riddles out.

Maybe we call the next chapter “Hermione Granger: The Witch Who Quite Often Bails Out Harry Potter.”