I have many fond memories of the Harry Potter books. I remember my overwhelming sense of curiosity while reading those opening chapters of the first book. I remember my sister waking me up in the middle of the night because she’d been reading Chamber of Secrets and wanted to know if Ginny would be all right. I remember reading a couple of pages over and over while asking “Wait, did Sirius just die?” I remember constantly going online to read interviews with J.K. Rowling and to join in speculation about what would happen next. I remember going to the local Barnes & Noble for the release parties of the last two books. I remember reading through the last book as fast as I possibly could because I wanted to finish it before going to work.

But as for the movies, I’ve got nothing.

I simply don’t get the Harry Potter movies. That’s not to say that I hate them or that I don’t understand why Warner Bros. keeps making them, it’s just that I don’t get the excitement over them. For one thing, we always know the stories in advance. The movies have always premiered a couple of years and at least one book after the release of their source material, which means that the audience has always been a mile ahead of the filmmakers. Of course, it’s not like this is new with adaptations, but this particular situation is quite unusual.

There have been six Harry Potter movies so far. SIX MOVIES. In all six of those films, none of the characters have been recast, save only for Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle. The previous two films were directed by the same guy who’s helming both halves of the final one. All of the movies with one exception were written by the same man. The musical scores and character themes composed by John Williams have been the basis of the score through the entire series. The visuals, set designs and special effects have all stringently followed the blueprint established by Chris Columbus and Alfonso Cuaron. Hell, even the floating Warner Bros. shield is visibly and literally worn from overuse by the start of this latest film.

That’s not to say that I’d rather the movies had been made with no regard for continuity. Far from it. Rather, my point is that by film five or six, we should’ve all known what the films going forward would look and sound like. We should’ve known who’d be playing Harry, Ron and Hermione. We should’ve known what magic looks like. We should’ve known how the score would sound. Any Harry Potter fan should’ve been able to read Deathly Hallows on the day of its release and get a pretty solid idea of what its movie would look like. Really, it seems to me like the only motivation to watch these movies is to see how the books will be condensed and which characters will be cut. Doesn’t seem like much fun to me.

This was essentially my attitude going into Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 and it hasn’t really changed much since. But when the film opened and Hermione does something new, unexpected and poignant, I was quite ready to start giving it a bit more credit.

The latest movie is inherently different for the same reason that Book Seven is different: Because the focus is solely on Harry, Ron and Hermione. Sure, they’ve always been the core of the series, but this film focuses on them with only scarce distraction from Hogwarts, Quidditch or any of the myriad secondary and tertiary characters. This is the story that sees our trinity completely alone. On the run and in unknown territory with no one but themselves to trust or depend on, stuck on a mission of global importance with no idea of how to complete it. This is the time when our heroes truly grow up, as whatever insecurities, grudges and fears they still have come to a head like never before.

Fortunately, these three characters are played by actors who have now grown up with each other and with their characters. The chemistry and trust between Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson has become iron-clad and this is the movie in which their mutual history pays off in ways that defy description. Individually, Radcliffe is still Harry personified and Watson is even better and more beautiful than ever as Hermione.

Still, I think that it’s Grint that saw the biggest improvement. I’ve never been very fond of Ron’s movie portrayal as an overly broad comic relief and laughingstock, and I’m sorry to say that there are many times when he’s still used as such. For example, there’s a particularly bad mini-subplot in which Ron — to break into the Ministry of Magic — unknowingly disguises himself as man whose wife is currently on trial for blood purity. I realize that this was a story point from the books and God forbid the filmmakers should omit the Ministry’s trials. What I don’t approve of is just how much the film played this story point for laughs. I found it to be annoying and idiotic that Ron should get carried away with his ruse to the degree that he did. What’s more, Harry and Hermione had to spend so much time in the Ministry’s halls while Ron reconciled with his “wife” that it’s no wonder they were all seen by Ministry officials. Stupid.

Nevertheless, Ron does redeem himself on a number of occasions. His row with Harry was very well-done, his destruction of the pendant Horcrux was spectacular to watch and his reconciliation with Harry and Hermione was beautifully acted. Ron acquits himself wonderfully on many occasions in the movie and again, so much of that comes back to how perfectly these three actors play off each other.

As to how the story was adapted, I have a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand, all the camping scenes were well-paced and eventful, with such brilliant new scenes as the dance between Harry and Hermione. On the other hand, so much of the film felt rushed. This hastiness is most clearly felt near the start of the film, when David Yates and company try to crowbar in all of the relevant characters and arcs that were omitted from the previous movies. Mundungus Fletcher gets introduced during this time, as do Fleur and Bill Weasley, and the introductions are all clumsily done with roughly five seconds each.

The score and sound design were very well-done, particularly the pendant Horcrux’s theme. It was an atonal high metallic pitch that I found appealing in its garishness and subtlety, rather like Hans Zimmer’s Joker theme from The Dark Knight. Additionally, there are several scenes that were clearly meant to be in 3D, though I remain thankful that the 3D post-conversion was scrapped. Watching Nagini lunge toward the camera (not once, but twice!) would’ve looked gimmicky as hell, and anyway — as I always say — fuck 3D post-conversion.

I should also mention the origin story of the Deathly Hallows. Yates and company wisely decided to show the fairy tale itself, rather than focus on Hermione simply reading it. The result is a strange CGI puppet show that I found quite visually appealing, though I felt like it belonged in a different movie altogether. Seems to me like the children’s book should’ve had some illustrations that might’ve been used instead.

But then came the ending (or is it the halfway point?), which concerns my single largest gripe of the film: Dobby. I was shocked when Dobby died in the seventh book because I didn’t see it coming, the scene was beautifully written and because he went out like a hero. In the movie, however, I found Dobby’s demise absolutely grating. Sure, the special effects on him have come a long way since Chamber of Secrets, but that house-elf was so ungodly annoying that I actually found myself thankful he’d snuffed it. What’s more, the murder itself was convoluted and horribly shot, with close-ups, slo-mo and grandiose speeches that ruined any subtlety or surprise the death may have had. Furthermore, our characters spend forever mourning the little guy. It’s been a while since I last saw Order of the Phoenix, but I think that Dobby’s death may have been played for more drama than that of Sirius friggin’ Black. Hell, Mad-Eye Moody didn’t get so much as the memorial toast that he was given in the book, yet Dobby gets five minutes of grieving and goodbyes. What the hell?!

Overall, my feelings on Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 are very mixed. I’m really not sure how good it is in comparison to the book, and so much of the story is rushed that I’m not sure how the film stands on its own, either. In any case, I strongly doubt that my opinions about this will matter very much. No matter what I say, this film will make at least $100 million this weekend and you’ve undoubtedly made up your mind already about whether or not you’re seeing it. Hell, you’ve probably seen it already. And that’s fine. Sure, the movies are nothing more than transparent attempts to milk the Harry Potter franchise for all it’s worth, but at least the films are competently made, respectful to the fans and as faithful to the source material as screen time and budget will allow. This film in particular may be the best and most respectful film of them all.

I’m still not sure about that, though. Get back to me on that when the film is finished this July. Maybe by then, I’ll have finally, conclusively sorted out my feelings on the film in particular and the series in general.