Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

This movie is an unsparing version of the first half of the book.  My first thought when I heard they were splitting the last book into two movies was, how are they going to end the first one?  While I don't want to give away the ending, suffice to say that this movie ends at a pretty low moment for Harry and his friends.  The downward trend persists from the opening music, which is very subdued, through to the end, with only a few breaks of lightness or comedy in between.  One of my favorite parts of the book is Ron Weasley's heroic effort to save Harry and "kill" a horcrux using Godric Gryffindor's sword.  This part of the movie is dramatic, and spiced up a bit for the cameras with a kiss scene between Harry and Hermione -- part of the spell protecting the horcrux is apparently an apparition that expresses Ron's worst fears.  Instead of falling to the temptation to jealousy, Ron banishes his fears by putting the sword through the horcrux.  Typically, though, Ron undercuts his moment of heroism by saying, "Just think, there are three more of them."  I liked this part of the movie, too, but not as much as the book version.  The story of the deathly hallows themselves is told entirely through animation, which doesn't match the style of the rest of the movies, but it does allow the creators of the film some creative fun, I guess.  There isn't a lot of fun in the movie overall, but Harry, Hermione and Ron's humanity contrasts throughout the movie with Voldemort's quest to become a god.  There is a touching parallel at the end that I can't explain without giving too much away, but these light touches aren't enough to really give an uplift to the movie.  Overall, I recommend the movie, but don't expect a light Harry Potter feel or for kids to enjoy this movie at all.