For me, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was perfect in many ways. It managed a great blend of action, excitement, emotion and humour. I found myself engrossed for every one of the 146 minutes, and the time flew by way too fast.

Many critics had given lukewarm reviews complaining about the stretch of camping scenes in the middle third of the movie. They claimed the scenes drag along for an unnecessary amount of time. However, I say these scenes are perfectly timed to give the viewer that sense of desperation and loneliness that Harry, Ron and Hermione experience, while not feeling unnecessary.

Talking of the Trio, one of standout aspects of this film was the strength of performances from Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Daniel gave all I could expect, and portrays Harry as well as he has always done, and does well in demanding scenes such as the Seven Potters. Rupert Grint was even more impressive. He showed a dark and emotional side to Ron and (with kudos to screenwriter Steve Kloves) portrayed superbly the journey that Ron takes, and we really get to see the character develop.

But Emma Watson, whose acting in past films has been suitable but far less than perfect, was the surprise highlight of the three. The erasing of Hermione’s parents memories was a powerful moment, and Emma Watson really pulled it off. There were many other scenes throughout the movie in which Emma exceeded expectations; the Malfoy Manor scene with Bellatrix was particularly brilliant.

Again, props to the film makers who not only came up with Hermione’s Obliviating scene, but also added in that dance between Harry and Hermione which I was thought was wonderful. It was also good to see Neville beginning to show his growing strength of heart, standing up to the Death Eater on the train.

I had heard a lot about the animated sequence for The Tale of the Three Brothers before going into the showing. This didn’t stop me being extremely impressed by it. It was a very smart move and was beautifully done.

The set design and special effects were flawless as expected; the scenery and settings were stunning. The fact that is was set completely out of Hogwarts gave the film a completely different feel to the previous six, something which is refreshing and liberating, but which will also upset some movie goers. There is less of the whimsical magic that we’re used to, but this is needed to show that, in the words of Bill Nighy’s Rufus Scrimgeour, “these are dark times, there is no denying”.

That brings me on to another positive that I took from this film, which was the (expected) strength of the supporting cast. Bill Nighy’s brief appearance was a great new addition to the already incredible line-up of older cast members.

Ralph Fiennes seemed to be even better as Voldemort; his scene at the beginning in Malfoy Manor was excellent and the Dark Lord seemed even more real than he ever has before. Rhys Ifans was great as Xenophilius, and younger cast members such as James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George, and Evanna Lynch as Luna were as great and perfect as always. Tom Felton also does well alongside Jason Isaacs to show the torment going on inside Draco's head.

It is always emphasised in the publicity of the Potter movies that each one is darker than the last, but I was gladly surprised that in Deathly Hallows some aspects were really quite shocking and chilling to see. Just a few examples would be Bathilda Bagshot in Godric’s Hollow, the locket Horcrux showing Ron his worst fears, and Bellatrix torturing Hermione, carving ‘Mudblood’ into her arm. The latter was a simple but powerful way of showing not only the evil of Bellatrix, but the evil that they are all fighting against. It is a kind of racism that every movie goer can relate to in some way. With relation to this, I should also note how well I thought they did the Ministry scenes. The “Magic is Might” symbolism had a lot of Nazi connotations and also reminded me of the dystopia of George Orwell’s 1984.

It was a shame that certain elements of the book were skimmed over, and odd that some things appeared and then weren’t followed up or explained. For example; Dumbledore’s past, Lupin and Tonks, Dudley’s goodbye, Moody’s eye in Umbridge’s office door, Wormtail, and that mirror shard that, while we fans all know about it, has never been introduced in the films and was strangely unexplained here.

That said, I think the adaptation from book to screen was almost as good as could possibly be expected. The filmmakers left in everything that was necessary, changed things where they needed to be changed, added some inspired new scenes, and left out the details that would have required too much exposition.

In Half-Blood Prince last year, I was disappointed that they diverted from the main story and cut out important parts for the sake of the romance and humour. I did love Half-Blood Prince, but I think they struck a much better balance here in Deathly Hallows Part 1. The script and dialogue was better in this one than most of the previous entries in the series. The film had a very good flow to it and I think they managed the pacing well. None of this could have been possible without the movie split.

Of course I have to mention Dobby. It was a great decision to introduce him earlier in the film, and I know by the end everyone in the cinema had fallen in love with him. His speech before he died about Harry and about friends was one the best things I have witnessed in a Harry Potter movie, and there were many sniffs around me as he slipped away. It was the most emotional scene for me reading Deathly Hallows, and it was possibly the most close to tears I have ever been watching a Harry Potter film. Some people may turn their noses up at a character like Dobby, but he encompasses so many of the messages and morals that JK Rowling wrote into the books, and this was shown fantastically well on screen.

One more thing to add. This film managed to achieve something rather special which is to improve on something that JK Rowling wrote in the books. I’m talking about Hedwig’s death. To have her fly up and try to protect Harry made her death even more potent and devastating than it was in the book, and to have this give away Harry to the Death Eaters was very clever.

Finally, I will say that I thought the ending was the best possible split point. The story had reached a turning point and that was made clear to the viewers. It was a cliff-hanger and yet provided some kind finality at the same time. This was not a complete film in itself, though. As the credits roll, is has the definite feeling of being Part 1 of 2. This is neither positive nor negative. That is what it is and that is how it should be treated. It is a fantastic first half to what looks to be a phenomenal final Harry Potter film, and I for one cannot wait to see the second half in 8 months time.