Harry Potter
In 1999, at age 32, I decided to read the first Harry Potter book (reviewed in 2009 after our last Potter marathon). I was mesmerized. It had been some time since a book transported me to another place the way this one did. I couldn’t wait to read the others and when the films arrived, I was thrilled.
As a family we watched the first seven films in the series before we went to the theater to see the last. In the four days before the movie release we saw the first six, and we saw number seven right before we went to the theater for number eight.
Here are my thoughts on each one.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
I’m a what?
I’m a little biased on this one. When this movie first hit the theaters I remember asking a friend if he was going to see it. His response – “A movie about a school for witches and wizards? Um, yes!” I was excited too but a little worried. I know how great books are sometimes ruined in the movies. This one was different. While the first part of the story is “fast forwarded” a bit, I found myself very surprised how faithful the film was to the book.
I was also surprised to hear Hermione’s name pronounced. It was the firs time I’d heard it. I had no idea how to pronounce it when I read the book, but nothing I came up with was even close.
Still my favorite of the series to watch – but that’s my nostalgia kicking in.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Never try to save my life again.
In my opinion, this is one of the weaker films but we do meet a couple of fantastic characters and learn details of the Potter universe that are very important to the final conclusion of the story.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Yeah… him I’ve heard of.
I always thought this was the best of the films but never quite enjoyed it as much as the first. I’ve watched it in marathon context like this twice now and I realize that there are parts that confuse me a little bit. I do like how Harry, Ron, and Hermione have begun to grow up in this one.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I don’t want eternal glory, I just wanna be…
I can barely sit through this one. The tournament is a silly idea and Ron is a whiny during much of the film. The only redeeming quality is that we really meet Voldermort in this one.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I must not tell lies.
I know stories need conflict but this one has too much of the kind of frustrating conflict I hate. The kind of conflict you see a lot in sit-coms – you know, where someone is misunderstood and all that needs to happen is for everyone to see the truth, and it seems so obvious to us how to solve it, but we are not there. Ugh! I hate that.
I did really like the way Dolores Umbridge was portrayed and I very much enjoyed Harry putting her in her place.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
But, I am the chosen one.
Two things are clear in this film. First, Harry and his buddies are in real danger. Second, our heros are starting to deal with puppy love and all of the fun that comes along. The film opens with Harry flirting with a very cute girl and I found myself sorry for him that he never gets to see her again.
I enjoyed this one a whole lot, probably because it features Snape so prominently (Alan Rickman’s brilliant performance of Snape still makes me laugh out loud when I watch the films), but I find myself wondering how much good this installment did for the overall story.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
No one else is going to die. Not for me.
I purposely avoided seeing this until the last film was released because I didn’t really want to watch what both my kids told me was “half a movie.” I saw the last two films on the same day, July 15 (which, btw, is my wedding anniversary) with only about 30 minutes between them. I thought it wasn’t bad as a story all by itself – and this series needed a film where the bad guy seems to have won in the end.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
It seems despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster.
A spectacular conclusion to a wonderful film series. This one started with a very short recap of the film before it but it was still too much. I hated it. Either the two films can stand on their own, or they can’t. I was also not a big fan of the ending. I can see where it provided information we wanted to know about the fate of Hogwarts, but I didn’t like it.
It also leaves the door too wide open for a sequel, if you ask me. That would be a bad idea!