REVIEW: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

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The prosperous Harry Potter franchise is chugging to an end, since author JK Rowling stopped writing more books. The last novel has been dragged across two movies in a last ditch attempt to please Potter-maniacs and make the last of the millions possible on the films.
 
By the time the story moves to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the sweet kids have grown up, and there is teenage angst and sexual jealousy -- of which one gets enough in the Twilight series. Instead of the delightful Hogwarts, there are forests and  cold and barren windswept vistas where Harry and Hermoine camp out.   One can’t say one is sorry to see Harry and Gang go -- even though there's one more movie to wrap up the sage.

Harry is in danger from Voldemort as usual, and it is imperative that the arch-enemy’s Horcruxes be found and destroyed. To protect Harry, six of his friends drink a potion to look like Harry, but the ruse doesn’t quite work as they are attacked by Death Eaters.
 
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic falls, a new set of evil administrators take over and Harry, Ron and Hermione ‘disapparate’ to London, just in time. A locket that is one of the Horcruxes has to be retrieved from the Ministry and the trio make a daring entry and escape.
 
Hermione ‘apparates’ them away to a forest, with Ron injured, The locket causes negativity and creates problems between the friends.  They mope and gripe about, and a lot of other complications take place, that involve a mysterious symbol -- the story of which is told with visually arresting shadow puppetry.
 
All this is just the peg on which to hang a lot of the Potter mythology and punctuate the long periods of stillness, with high-octane, special effects laden battles with all manner of menacing monsters.
 
Goes without saying, that it is a no-efforts spared kind of filmmaking, with a lot of detailing, imagination and CGI, it’s just that the plot is running a bit thin and as Harry grows up and loses his cuteness, he comes across a rather an ineffectual hero. 
 
Still, there is no doubt that Potter fans will flock to it and send the box-office records soaring.  Harry Potter is such an icon now that the movies are immune to criticism. But to a viewer who is not a fan, the film might not appeal all that much.