Deathly Hallows Part One Doesn't Disappoint

SPOILER ALERT: for those who haven't read the book and don't want to know what happens in the movie, I'd suggest that you not read this article, as it contains spoiler information about the movie.

"These are dark times, there is no denying."

As an avid reader of Harry Potter who considers herself knowledgeable on everything there is to know about the fantastical wizarding world, you can imagine how excited I was when someone offered to sell me tickets on Nov. 18 to the sold out midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1." Bundled up in my coat and wearing comfy sweat pants, I sat down in a decently good seat to watch the movie that so many have been anxiously awaiting since the release date was announced.

In the story, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) is a 17-year-old wizard who has been hunted since age one by a dark wizard called Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). In previous movies, Harry finds out that he is marked as a "Chosen One:" he is the one who must kill Voldemort. However, there is a twist: Voldemort split his soul in seven in the hopes that it would make him immortal. In order to put an end to Voldemort, Harry must find these horcruxes and figure out a way to destroy them with the help of his two best friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).

Unlike earlier films, "Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows: Part 1" has a very dark, bleak plotline, and it features more adult-age content. For example, the scene where Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore's tomb is quite disturbing: seeing Dumbledore's preserved body being humiliated by his archenemy isn't something younger kids will appreciate. Death is also a very prominent feature in the film; unlike before, death is reported to the characters much more casually and matter-of-factly, giving the viewer the sense that murder is an inevitable part of Voldemort's regime.

However, the overall feeling of bleakness and depression is often punctuated by small moments of comedic relief, allowing the viewer to keep from getting bored with all of the doom and gloom that consumes the characters. In one of these moments, seven of Harry's companions turn into doubles of him with help from Polyjuice potion, which leads to one moment which features a Harry stripping off her bra.

Radcliff, Grint and Watson have all grown enormously since the first installment of Harry Potter: their expressions are so artistically perfect that the audience can know what they are thinking even without the aid of the book. Their superb acting is what really brings the Harry Potter world to life. When Dobby dies Harry's realistic tears and agonized expression cause us to weep along with him; when Hermione is being tortured her screams of terror and pain cause us to hurt as if we were actually there; When Ron is battling the locket horcrux we are afraid right along with him. Ralph Fiennes is perfect as Voldemort, exuding all of the coiled anger and frightening appearance that we read about in the book. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape is as wonderful as he usually is, outwardly appearing evil and nasty but giving us just a hint with his expression that he might not be as bad as he really appears.

Book-lovers of Harry Potter will definitely greatly enjoy this movie: although less of Harry's internal struggle is shown and Dumbledore isn't talked about as much, the movie generally follows the same plotline as the book, including many of the details that seemed too insignificant to make the cut. However, for someone that hasn't read the seventh book I suggest reading the Spark Notes or getting the main story from someone who has, because the movie was definitely made for fans that know what is going on.