Fear and loathing, doom and gloom permeate nearly every minute of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1', the beginning of the end of the behemoth boy-wizard series.

Review

This seventh film in the franchise, directed once again by David Yates (who previously helmed parts five and six, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'), begins with nearly suffocating tension, as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself face-to-face with his destiny: being the target of the evil Lord Voldemort's deadly wrath. Friends and allies will have to band together to protect him; some of them won't make it out alive.

Finally, the weight of Harry's past and the frightening unknown of his future, as detailed so thoroughly and vividly in J.K. Rowling's beloved books, are about to collide.

Yates' film is gorgeously bleak, with sprawling, end-of-the-Earth shots of foreboding mountains and lonely beaches from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Eduardo Serra ('Girl With a Pearl Earring') that reflect the characters' moods. Serra has never shot a 'Harry Potter' movie before and brings a totally different kind of artfulness to the aesthetics while still remaining consistent with this familiar world. ('Part 1' is in 2-D because, thankfully, Warner Bros. chose not to rush the 3-D conversion process; 'Part 2' will be in 3-D when it hits theaters in July.)