The Magic Touch

As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I showed up to the Carmike Theater a full three hours before the film began.  Dressed in matching t-shirts, my friends and I settled down for the beginning of the end, the first half of the last Harry Potter movie.

There's something really unique about a midnight premier.  The throngs of true fans, the handmade costumes, the games and books and magazines used to pass the time. 

People laugh and chatter and speculate about the coming attraction as they munch on free refills of popcorn and lemonade, shaking the shoulders of that one friend who keeps falling asleep.

Online news sources report people dressed in everything from cloaks to house elf ears all across the country.  While our theater wasn't crawling with costumes, we did have a few theater-mates worth reporting. 

A whole horde of high school girls were sporting Gryffindor-esque cardigans and scarves, and several had recreated Harry's trademark black glasses with pipe cleaners. 

We earned a few chuckles for our own t-shirts, handmade by yours truly.  Each displayed a personal favorite quote on the front, with our last names on the back over the words "If you can read this, my invisibility cloak fell off." 

As fun as this was though, the real fun began at midnight.

This seventh installment of the Harry Potter movies has received ratings of 79 percent from critics and 89 percent from the public at rottentomatoes.com. 

IMDb has rated the film 8.1 stars out of 10.  The film has grossed more than $220 million in the U.S. alone as of Nov. 29, after less than two weeks in theaters.

Like all movies, the reviews are mixed, but this one is getting rave reviews from fans.  After the midnight showing, one look at your Facebook feed gave you the Augustana consensus as status after status praised The Deathly Hallows. 

Junior Amber Fick, who made it to the midnight showing, said, "Happiness is finally getting a Harry Potter movie right."

In his Hitfix review column, Drew McWeeny said, "If my biggest complaint about a film is that I would have happily sat through the next two-and-a-half hours of story immediately, I'd say that's a good complaint." 

In fact, most reviewers agree that the worst thing about this movie is the fact that it ended.  Those loyal to the books are now fantasizing about how their favorite parts will be recreated, while non-readers are left thirsting for an end that will evade them for eight more months.

My advice?  Pick up the book and dive in.  If not, I'll see you on July 15, 2011.