The complete, unofficial review of Harry Potter 7, pt. 1.

Last night I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1 at the Metreon, where all 16 screens were sold out. We arrived right on time, four and a half hours early. Our last minute costumes? Muggles. Here are all of my unprofessional thoughts about the movie, starting with fan costumes and ending with the Elder Wand (**mild spoiler alert**).

Best fan costumes: Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. They could have been stunt doubles from the movie. Even their facial features resembled the real actors, and Snape brooded around the lobby in his billowing black robes. Just perfect. Unfortunately, I do not have photos — Snape stormed away too quickly.

Runner-up: Dolores Umbridge, complete with tiny tea cup.

Worst fan costumes: Skanky Potter. This is not even from a modesty standpoint, but from an accuracy standpoint. I saw several girls in low cut, short-hemmed “Harry Potter” costumes. They didn’t look anything like anyone from any of the movies. Were they merely HP groupies?

Pre-movie trailers: Sucked, all of them. Trailers included Red Riding Hood (strongly reminiscent of Twilight), Cowboys vs. Aliens (evidence that Hollywood is running out of ideas — Monsters vs. Aliens, Aliens vs. Predators, etc.), and Green Lantern (I don’t think I like Ryan Reynolds as a superhero). The scary thought is that these trailers are targeted at the anticipated audience — who did they think would be there??

Audience: Surprisingly and thankfully tame. We cheered only at appropriate times, and I could actually hear the dialogue during the movie.

Actual movie: The best Harry Potter movie yet. A truly wonderful adaptation of the book. Dobby stole the show with his red shoes, chandelier-wrangling skills, and selfless endearing nature. Plus, how could you deny the cuteness of his over-sized blue eyes? I was so proud of him (as was the rest of the audience — we all cheered) when he exclaimed “Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf!” I am not ashamed to say that I teared up when he died.
The one scene that really could have been better was at the very end. Voldemort swoops over to Dumbledore’s grave, which is now on island (when did that happen?) and as he busts up the grave to retrieve the Elder Wand, the granite tumbles down in slow motion. The graphics looked like they were done poorly by a first-year film student. It was clearly done on a computer, when it could have easily been created in real life with real granite, or with better CGI. Dobby on the beach looked more natural than Voldemort’s grave robbery.
Ron bulked up, and I noticed. I thought the nude Harry/Hermione make-out scene was a bit much. I understand that it was the manifestation of Ron’s jealousy, but I didn’t like it. I wondered what happened to Narcissa Malfoy’s hair because I don’t remember it being partially dyed black. I kind of liked the animation of The Tale of the Three Brothers, but it seemed out of place. Voldemort looked like a snake as much as ever. I liked him better in the previous movies when he didn’t talk as much — I thought it was much more menacing. But props to Ralph Fiennes for officially being the creepiest, most malevolent, most nose-lacking movie character, ever.

Star Rating: 5/5.

Bed time: 3:45 a.m.