As sad as it seems, the beginning of the end has started for Harry Potter fans. On Nov. 19, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I opened, and Harry Potter fans everywhere flocked to theaters to see the first half of the two-part movie.

Harry Potter has been a fixture in pop culture since our elementary school days. Readers laughed and cried throughout the series and now that it is ending, fans seem more nostalgic than ever.

“I grew up with Harry Potter. The second part of the final book comes out a month before I go to college, so it really is like Harry Potter is ending alongside my childhood,” senior Duy Nguyen said.

The movie chronicled the final chapter in the ongoing feud between Harry Potter and the wizard who wants to take over the wizarding world, Voldemort.

Although the movie was great to readers, those who never picked up a Harry Potter book felt differently.

“I liked the movie, but since I never read the books and it’s been a while since I saw the sixth movie, I was a little lost. I didn’t even remember what a Horcrux was,” senior Julie Liberty said.

The movies have never been a perfect representation of the books, but overall they do a very nice job of portraying the plot.

At parts the movie was a little slow. It seems like the director wanted to show the loneliness each character goes through in the process of trying to find Horcruxes.

The set is almost all new too. The friends spend a lot of their time outside hunting Horcurxes and almost none of their time in familiar locations.

Hogwarts isn’t even featured in this movie, but for those who missed the magical castle, the next movie will end with a bang in the place it all started.

My favorite scene was when Harry was about to leave and he looks into the little room he used to live in under the stairs. It really shows how far the story has progressed and how life goes full circle in this series.

 The movie had a lot of good special effects and contained actionpacked magic scenes, but it lacked the darkness that the sixth movie emphasized. Not that this movie wasn’t dark, it was, but it could have been darker.

It feels like the acting has gotten better though.

Jason Isaacs did a phenomenal job as a broken Lucius Malfoy and Helena Bonham Carter took Bellatrix Lestrange to a new level of creepy. Not only was Carter’s creepiness amazing, but as Bellatrix tortures Hermione, Emma Watson displayed the agony and fear of the moment perfectly.

Even showing the development of the three main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione was satisfying.

Rupert Grint and Emma Watson did an amazing job showing the development of their characters’ relationship.

Many found the end awkward and abrupt, but it seemed to fit and left a definite desire to see the next film as soon as possible.

By going along with the book, the next movie looks to be bigger and better than all those in the past.

If you haven’t seen this movie, do so quickly. Not familiar with the final book? Watch and read the previous movies and books so you are ready when Part II releases in July 2011.