Friendly reminder: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 releases in SA today

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Forget movies releasing this Friday. In fact, there is nothing notable hitting South African cinemas then at all (unless you actually give a shit about animated comedy Open Season 3!). The film release schedule has been cleared to make space for today's big midweek debut - the fantasy cinema behemoth that is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Having opened last Friday in the United States and many other international regions, the film releases locally today.


Of course the really hardcore, SA-based Potter addicts are likely to have already watched the film at one of the multiple preview screenings that have taken place over the past fortnight. However, for everyone else today is the day! So begins the seventh and final installment (broken into 2 parts) in the massively successful film franchise - based on the massively successful book series by JK Rowling.

This is it for Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint). Having defeated Hogwarts headmaster, and the greatest good wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is apparently unstoppable as he and his Death Eater supporters take over the wizarding world - and begin their master plan of enslaving the world's Muggles (non-magical inhabitants). Assisted by their closest allies, Harry and his friends must avoid the Death Eaters while they search for and destroy the magical artifacts that ensure Voldemort's immortality. It's an incredibly dangerous mission, and in this, the final and darkest of all the Potter tales, many beloved characters die.


Personally I've been trying to keep myself in the dark as much as possible about Deathly Hallows - although for the record I've been a supporter of the 2-film split for a very long time (Part 2 releases in July 2011), particularly since Deathly Hallows, the book, is the most fast-paced and densely packed narratively of all the Potter tales. Mostly though I just hope it's a better adaptation than its movie predecessor Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I did not enjoy at all.

Out of interest, the 2 and a half hours long Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is currently sitting with a 79% Fresh rating over at Rotten Tomatoes. General consensus is that the tonally bleak film opens and ends powerfully, but meanders in the middle as the colourful supporting cast falls away and the film centres solely on Harry, Hermoine and Ron as they succumb to sulkiness and depression. So, not unlike Rowling's book then!

I'm off to watch Deathly Hallows: Part 1 tonight, taking advantage of Nu Metro's Half-price Wednesdays. Hopefully I'll have my review of the movie up for you by Friday, or on Monday at the latest.

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