The Harry Potter film series’s development largely mirrors that of the characters it depicts; the films started out youthful and innocent, then went through that awkward phase in the fourth and fifth installments where neither the filmmakers nor the characters really knew what they were doing, and then everybody grew up and the films earned PG-13 ratings. By that regard, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (the first of two portions into which the eponymous book has been divided) should be the rewarding, mature payoff for those who stuck with Harry through thick and thin. It is, in most ways, but it could be so much more.

The acting is decent, not great.  One would think that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who play Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively, would have learned something about acting after having starred in so many movies. However, instead of emerging from their chrysalis as stunning actors, they appear to have metamorphosed into simple Gap models. On the whole, they appear to be a bit less vacuous than in the other films, and as usual, Watson rises above the other two, but these differences are slight. The real talent appears only in the periphery, in established thespians such as Alan Rickman and Brendan Gleeson. Ralph Fiennes shines once more as Lord Voldemort, laughing to himself as he turns his campiness all the way up.

Visually, the film is nothing short of beautiful. Director David Yates has spent the last two films refining his technique, and it shows in a way that makes one feel like every other film in the series has been holding back. The film’s transient nature, along with the departure from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, allows for some genuinely amazing location scouting. Set design is excellent, too; Dolores Umbridge’s office in the second act is an over-the-top kitsch nightmare-masterpiece. My jaw literally dropped when I saw it. Of course, fans will miss the jovial, academic in-school setting of the older films, but these are dark times, as the first line of the film tells us, and the movie conveys this. The cinematography is completely epic, with wide swooping shots that dwarf the actors, giving the audience a sense not only of the scale of the environments, but also the scale of the struggle that Harry, Ron and Hermione face in tracking down Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes and solving the mystery of the Deathly Hallows.

This leads me to the movie’s main flaw. I mentioned earlier that the movie is, largely, a reward for the loyal fans – the first part of the culmination of a sprawling adventure. Unfortunately, it won’t be rewarding for anyone else. Those unfamiliar with Potter lore will find themselves completely lost within the numerous intricacies of the wizarding world. The film takes for granted a prior knowledge of the Potter universe, so if you are the one person who is reading this review that still hasn’t seen the movies or read the books, this film is probably not the best place to start. For fear of redundancy, I won’t detail the plot here. Instead I refer you, pop-culturally challenged reader, to the first film or novel in the series.

As for the plot itself, it too is good, but not great. However, Yates has made good use of the source material. Rowling’s writing, while not at the pinnacle of sophistication, lends itself quite well to the decidedly more accessible medium of film. The film also takes several departures from the book, all generally successful. The story of the Peverell brothers and the Deathly Hallows is told through a brilliant animated sequence, and in one particularly poignant scene, Harry and Hermione share a dance as the song “O Children,” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, plays on the radio. That scene manages to show the uncertainty of their future while also preaching the value of friendship in a way that is not overly forced or corny. There is also a scene in Godric’s Hollow that evokes a great many slasher horror films in both structure and atmosphere.

This film has taken a book that was riddled with fairy tale and fantasy genre contrivances and made it into a surprisingly diverse movie that regularly strays from the norm. It is a satisfying penultimate installment in a series that has in itself accomplished so much; Warner Brothers has maintained a loyal demographic of fans, contributing greatly to the “Pottermania” subculture, and managed to create what appears to be an arguably successful series of eight films whereas other franchises struggle to create decent trilogies.