Is 'Harry Potter 7' only for hardcore fans?

The latest installment in the wizard movie franchise makes no attempt to bring casual fans up to speed, say critics. Is it worth watching anyway?

In the running for "most incomprehensible movie of the year"?
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The seventh and penultimate installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise hits theaters this weekend, and mostly positive reviews are flooding in. But nearly all critics agree that newcomers to the series may have trouble following the complex plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which is based on the seventh and final Potter book. Should the uninitiated bother buying a ticket? (Watch the Harry Potter trailer)

The movie is only for the most dedicated Muggles: If you aren't an expert on the Potter series, at least read the book first, says Nigel Andrews at the Financial Times. The film will seem like "virtual gobbledegook" otherwise and leave you "delirious with boredom." Even "addicts" might find the pace slow and dialogue stilting.

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