by Donna Cooper

Created on: May 16, 2008

Well, the day finally arrived. With ominous signs from the heavens, I knew the tides were turning. Actually, there was a spectacular lighting storm as I drove to the theater that night. Still, it somewhat foreshadowed what was to come as this epic saga begins to wrap up.

I cannot, in good conscience, write this review with the perspective of it being the 5th film in the series. That would be somewhat misleading and would not do it justice. While it IS the 5th chapter, it takes a very dramatic turn after the conclusion of the 4th film, The Goblet of Fire, and therefore cannot be compared to the previous films. This fact is what made it hard to decide how I felt about the movie itself.

While there was still plenty of the usual stuff, fantastic visual effects and action scenes, this film had many more poignant moments where one could truly appreciate not only the gravity of the content, but the growth these young actors have experienced in terms of acting ability. I'll be the first to admit that watching the first four films had been, at times, painful. Not that the three main actors were terrible, but there were some things that they were too young to effectively and realistically portray. However, this was not the case in the latest installment. There was a dramatic improvement in each of the three main characters performances. I bought into every second of them on screen.

Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) slow turn from the cute little bespeckled boy into the troubled teenager dealing with things that most people never deal with in their entire lifetime, was probably one of the best performances yet. But, the award for most improved, would have to go to Hermione's portrayer, Emma Watson. She seems to have come into the role this time around. She seemed much more genuine than in previous films. I've never had a complaint about Ron Weasley's portrayer, Rupert Grint. I can't recall him ever having an awkward scene that just wasn't quite believable. He seems to be quite the actor.

As for the rest of the castwhat can I say? Have you seen them? With the likes of Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleason, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs, David Thewlis, Warwick Davis, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter, and Ralph Fiennes as the supporting cast, it's no wonder these kids are becoming such incredible actors. That's pretty much the crme of the crop in England.

The director, David Yates, did a phenomenal job with his first swipe at steering this ship.

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