Seventh installment of HP series best yet

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is the beginning of the end for the widely successful movie adaptation.

The movie is the first part of the last installment of J.K. Rowling's famous Harry Potter book series, and director David Yates does a great job following the sequence of the book.

The first scenes bring viewers to the Ministry of Magic, where the sinister tone of the movie is set.

Soon after, we meet the leading trio, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), followed quickly by a slew of main characters, including the Weasley twins (James and Oliver Phelps), Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson), Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) and the villain, Lord Voldemort (Ian Hart).

With this, the trio's horcrux hunt begins, as the rest of the wizarding world tries to stay out of the crosshairs of or fight against the Death Eaters, who basically have taken over the Ministry of Magic.

I was pleased to again see one of my favorite character translations ever, Dolores Umbride (Imelda Staunton). Staunton did a phenomenal job bringing Umbridge to life in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," and continues to perfect her on-screen personality.

Some have criticized the series for being too dark for its intended audience, but the dramatic, ominous tension really makes this movie.

One of the darkest scenes takes place at Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bohnam Carter) may have been torturing Hermoine, but she definitely does not torture the audience with her stellar performance.

The same cannot be said for poor Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Even after acting in six other Harry Potter films, he is still the worst actor known to man, wizard or muggle.

Most of the other young actors seem to find their places in the dramatic roles, but at times it seems like they were too focused on the drama, failing at most of the humor. A majority of it seems forced and unnatural.

The film does an acceptable job balancing the horrible events going on in the wizarding world and the characters' attempts to continue living normal, somewhat happy lives.

One thing this movie definitely has over the previous ones is special effects. It is by far the most visually pleasing Harry Potter movie.
There were a few instances of less than impressive special effects, but as a whole, it was a very striking film.

A specific visually appealing scene is the recounting of "The Tale of the Three Brothers and the Deathly Hallows." Instead of keeping it live action, the film creators chose an animated sequence narrated by Hermione. At first, I was skeptical, but as I watched, I really enjoyed the animation.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the movie is its adaptation of the book. It can't be simple to make a 759-page book with crazy, expensive-to-bring-to-life magic into two movies.

This book specifically must have been difficult because quite a few of those 759 pages follow the trio, as they pout in the forest, trying to think of a plan to defeat the Dark Lord.

Overall, the adaptation, visualizations and acting make "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" the best of the eight-part series.
The eighth and final movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," is set for release in July.