“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” was a subtle letdown. The movie was a disappointment; from the amount of time spent in scenes in the woods or traveling, to the seizure-inducing rapid cutting. Director David Yates tried too hard to make the movie an epic ending of the series. Instead it was merely a mash-up of “The Lord of the Rings,” “Twilight” and teen angst to make an all-right movie.

“The Deathly Hallows” was one of the most anticipated movies of the fall which guaranteed it ticket sales, but that doesn’t excuse the movie from deviating from the book drastically. I’m not disappointed that some scenes were left out, because “The Deathly Hallows” is nearly an 800-page book, but when scenes are completely changed to suit the flow of the film there is a problem.

First off, Harry Potter’s owl, Hedwig, does not attempt to protect him. She is supposed to be killed in her cage by an ill-aimed curse. Second, there was no mention in the book of Harry and Hermione dancing together after Ron leaves, and there is definitely not a scene in the book that Ron’s greatest fear is Harry and Hermione eloping in topless glory. These scene changes cut out essential information from the books.

Harry Potter is supposed to have been recognized by the Death Eaters by the use of his signature disarming spell. The absence of this fact in the movie alters what will happen in the second film. The complete absence of Voldemort in the Godric’s Hollow scene is also a huge departure from the book. The relationship between Voldemort and Harry is severely weakened with each subtraction of interaction between the two.

The acting was also a bit lackluster. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Emma Watson (Hermione) were phenomenal, but other the acting in other serious scenes seemed a bit forced.

There were many things I liked, including the scene change of the kiss between Harry and Ginny. Instead of Ron walking in on them, George walking in and watching his reaction was hilarious. His body language was perfect and the expressions were priceless. Overall, the humor was phenomenal throughout the entire movie. The awkwardness between Harry, Ron and Hermione was on point and the special effects were first rate.

The Moving Picture Company really did a great job of animating Nagini the snake and creating the effects for the battle sequences and spell-casting.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” is an entertaining movie and it was well made. Despite the inaccuracies with the book and the resemblance to other recently created book-films it deserves a watch, especially before the second part that comes up in July. I just wish that Yates would have left the story line alone.

Jacob Barrett is a junior strategic communication major from Annapolis, Md.