The Harry Potter film is here without all things familiar. Goodbye Hogwarts, Quidditch and teachers! What it has are kids thrust on the doorsteps of adulthood without a safety net. Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is an unexceptional film. It is not well made, nor thought-out enough. Simply said, if the film were thrust out like Harry, Hermione and Ron and bumped clumsily into a pack of Death Eaters...well we know how it will end.

People who haven’t seen the last Potter film shouldn’t even approach The Deathly Hallows. This film isn’t for the vaguely familiar either, because they will be lost. For its 146 minutes, it jumps and leaps without bothering to look back. The kids are another story. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are spellbindingly mature in an immaturely crafted adventure. Their skill is such that they don’t miss a cue, even if they look miserably lost in the kissing scenes — there aren’t many.

The film moans for a better director. Deathly Hallows-Part 1 forced me to remember all the directors that have made previous Potter films, and it makes me feel bad for the last three of the franchise.

The lank, powerless scenes never pile on Harry’s struggle, even when they are out alone in the wilderness, confused and desolate. We just have to take the film’s word that they are struggling. David Yates direction comes off as unimaginative and thin as he keeps the drama and tension at arm’s length.

What Hallows-Part 1 needs most is the handling of human anxiety and insecurities because that is what it’s chiefly about; that and finding horcruxes and destroying them by deciphering Dumbledore’s boggling clues.

The cameos of villain liven up Hallows but only for a few, brief minutes. There’s a deliciously wicked Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange and Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape (in only one scene), and Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy. Then there’s Ralph Fiennes who figured hamming-up Lord Voldemort is the way to go.

Only two things were interestingly made: one, a scene where Harry dances with Hermione to relieve the dread and burden of the journey; and the other was a small, animated piece explaining a fable and a part of Dumbledore’s mystery. Even when split in two, it’s still no excuse to roll out the laxness. Maybe Twilight: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 can show Yates and Steve Kloves (the writer) how it’s done…what am I saying!— Farheen Jawaid