It’s taken nine years, but the climactic (or rather penultimate) confrontation between the once dormant forces of evil and now failing powers of good has finally arrived on our screens. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 opens with the ominous words of war, “These are dark times, there is no denying”. Uttered by the ‘Minister for Magic’ (Bill Nighy) it’s appropriate, given the manner in which politicians are routinely portrayed in the Harry Potter films, that his speech should conclude with yet another denial; “Your ministry remains strong!”

Immediately, we discover the reality is quite the contrary. The Ministry has been infiltrated and Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) sits on the precipice of assuming control of the wizardry world. In a scene reminiscent of The Wannsee Conference (1984), Voldemort sits at the head of a long table lined by his Death Eaters and outlines his version of the ‘Final Solution’: Harry Potter must be apprehended and all Mudbloods (wizards of impure bloodline) and their sympathisers are to be systematically detained for ‘interrogation’.

Repeatedly deploying the symbolism of Nazi Fascism, director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves recast the magical conflict at the centre of Deathly Hallows within the frame of a WWII narrative. From the uniformed security guards with their red armbands who patrol the ‘reformed’ Ministry, and the neoclassicism-inspired sculpture that adorns its foyer, to the Anti-Mudblood propaganda pamphlets and the bleeding inscription on Hermione’s forearm that resembles a concentration camp tattoo, the spectre of Europe’s wartime past hovers over proceedings.

Relocated from the familiar setting of the Hogwarts Academy and the ‘school year’ structure afforded by previous films, the decision to reframe the plot as a war film initially lends Deathly Hallows an interesting deviation from its predecessors. Yet, instead of persisting with this premise, the film gradually relinquishes its allegorical ties to WWII in preference of a more traditional quest narrative.

Putting aside the socio-political context of war, the film quickly begins to resemble – a little too closely – Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Once the trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron have been bestowed certain magical artefacts, they set off in search of Horcruxes (cursed objects containing pieces of Voldemort’s soul) in the hope of destroying them and defeating the dark lord.

It’s at this point that the film’s momentum stalls. Whether through an obligation to the source material or simply a decision to pad out the running time, Deathly Hallows loses it way amidst sweeping aerial shots of the snow-capped mountains, open fields, lakesides and dense forests traversed by the heroic teens. The problem is that what the film manages to evoke in terms of ceaseless wandering, it ultimately loses in dramatic urgency.

That’s not to say that Deathly Hallows is entirely a lost cause. Many of the action sequences (eg. Harry’s decoy flight, the escape from the Ministry, and a forest pursuit) are well choreographed, while the central actors generally make an honest attempt at balancing the script’s intermittently maudlin and humorous moments.

But overall, there’s too much filler here to make this a truly workable filmic adaptation. A scene in which Harry and Hermione embrace as Nick Cave’s O’Children plays in the background (a song riddled with death camp symbolism) is earnest in its intentions but poor in execution. Likewise an expositional animation sequence detailing the story of the Deathly Hallows, while beautifully rendered, could’ve been sacrificed in the service of the film as a whole.

Given the decision to span the final Harry Potter tale across two films, it was always possible that at least one (and potentially both) of the Deathly Hallows films would suffer from a bloated narrative. And that’s a shame because there’s at least half of a good film in here.