The Hogwarts Express surges towards its last stop

“It’s the ending of a legacy,” sophomore Derrick Leong says about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” the new movie based on the seventh installation of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The book had been split into two separate movies, the first of which premiered on November 19.

Freshman Julia Murray, who has attended the last three midnight premieres of the Harry Potter movies, says, “Usually, you get in line at seven, and you wait for five hours, and then you watch the movie.” She says that the experience is “fun and very exciting,” but that she is more excited for part 2. “That’s when it all wraps up,” she says.

“When I saw the trailer…I totally screamed in theaters,” says junior Camila Lastrilla. Deathly Hallows was her first midnight viewing in the U.S. “I went to the screenings actually in the Philippines…It was crazy. Some people camped out, which was really cool.”

Lastrilla purchased midnight screening tickets for the third time in a row almost a week in advance. Lastrilla says, “I waited 7 hours. I brought my book and flipped through it, but I spent most of my time making new friends.” After the movie, she explains, “I was so tired. The moment I got in the car on the way home, I was dead to the world.”

But the movie did not live up to Lastrilla’s expectations. “It was dark and lacked humor. I wish it had been as funny as the previous ones,” she says, “I miss Hogwarts.”

Juniors Alyssa Block and Allyson Kiefer has similar feelings about the movie as Lastrilla after they saw it on the first Friday showing. “It could have been a little better,” says Block. “There were some parts they left out.”

Kiefer says, “It kind of bugged me because the book had a lot of humorous moments in it, but the movie kind of cut the fun parts out and just made it super serious. It was good because it advanced the plot and stuff, but I wish they had more of the friendship of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.” However, they both found it to be the best of the Harry Potter movies so far. “They actually included most of the major plots of the book. The other movies took out a ton of stuff, but this time. . . they kept it together,” says Kiefer.

Sophomore Kelly Walsh thinks that the movie may have been disappointing because of all the hype that it had created for itself. “I think the movie was really hyped up,” she says, “so I was almost expecting more. It was good, but it’s more of a transition movie and you can tell the second part will be better.”

Many fans were less excited for the film because they did not find the book to be very promising.

Freshman Nicole Sanchez says, “J.K. Rowling kind of rushed it. I didn’t like how it had a happy ending.”

Sophomore Jose Ruiz agrees. “There’s a lot of dialogue, and I don’t like it,” he says. “There’s not enough action.”

Sophomore Eavan Huth, who began reading the series when she was only in second grade, enjoyed the movie but understands that others felt differently.
“I think a lot of people were disappointed by it, but I also think that they forget that it’s not the entire movie, really.” Unlike Kiefer and Lastrilla, she felt that the movie included enough humorous bits. “Even though it’s a darker film, it still had funny parts, so it wasn’t just like a punch in the face of sad moments,” she says, but agrees that the movie mostly remained faithful to the book. “I feel like the writers left more in than usual, since they’ll have more time with the second part,” she says, adding that she thinks the movie deserves the hype it generates. “All of the movies at least try to keep most things from the books the same.”

Although there were varied reactions to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, it was a monumental event for anyone interested in the Harry Potter franchise.