Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The Part 1 at the end of the title makes this review seem a bit premature. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is literally the first half of a five-hour film. Instead of an old school intermission, we were sent home for seven months with no real conclusion at all. So, I’m gonna review this under the belief that the second half will be more of the same and not a random u-turn.

Now, of course, what was omitted from the book can randomly show up in Part 2 but since the plot went in somewhat the same order I think I’m safe to nitpick. The movies have blown off the Dursleys many times, so not getting to see Dudley be nice to Harry is no big loss. The movie decides to give Hedwig a more noble death instead of being an innocent bystander but this is put in place of Harry using expelliarmus to reveal himself to Voldemort. There is much less polyjuice potion and no use of the invisibility cloak. This allowed us to see more of the main actors but makes them seem much more reckless than they were in the book. Sadly, we don’t get to hear the annoyed dialogue of Phineas Nigellus Black. This leaves a hole in the Silver Doe plot but that’s for Part 2 to explain or ignore. We do get to see Harry play with the cool mirror shard throughout the film … too bad he was never given the mirror by Sirius in the Order of the Phoenix so he just seems to have a random magical mirror shard. None of this bothers me in the slightest.

One of the many sad consequences of the series ending is I won’t get to see anymore random great British actors popping up with each new film. The opening scene is the dulcet tones of Bill Nighy giving a speech as the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. He may have only been in a couple of scenes but any Nighy is always appreciated. Luna needed a father so they brought in Rhys Ifans. If he was good enough for Little Nicky and Formula 51, he is good enough for Harry Potter. I also need to point out the smaller parts for Peter Mullan and David O’Hara for their portrayals of the Death Eaters, Yaxley and Runcorn. And even smaller parts were given to Rade Serbedzija and Jamie Campbell Bower but I hope Part 2 may have more of Gregorovitch and Grindelwald. Goddamn seven-month wait…

Finally after ten years of movies and lots of growing up, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint carry this entire movie on their very capable backs. They have reached adulthood as actors and are also working with serious and emotional material throughout the movie. The shocking performance was Rupert Grint bringing a lot more darkness to Ron Weasley than I would ever expect him to deliver. Way to be more than the guy in the background as Harry and Hermione move the plot forward. Along those lines, as usual, Emma Watson gets so much screen time you would think that the stories are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and the Deathly Hallows. Eh, it’s worth it. The movie is full of these little moments of Hermione dealing with her grief and Emma is just phenomenal in each and every one of them. Daniel Radcliffe has proven to be up to the task of Harry Potter for multiple films now. Skipping past all the emotionally heavy moments, I love his comedic timing. The way he reacted to Hermione figuring out why Dumbledore left him the sword or how he denied having her wand were just perfect choices. I can’t wait to see him get put through the damn ringer in the final movie.

It wasn’t just the abilities of the Potter and friends actors that are the highlight of the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; there were scenes from the book that I was dying to see and the film delivered. Starting from the ending, Dobby’s death is one of the most powerful moments in the book and somehow they were able to reintroduce Dobby after his absence in the last four movies and make his death an absolute kick in the groin. I love Dobby. Then you have the creepy as hell locket attack that turned Harry and Hermione into Lord of the Rings-style elves while they were making out. They were so pretty and shiny. The telling of The Tale of the Three Brothers, now with animation, exceeded my expectations on every level. Then you have the scenes that were not in the book. Hermione wiping her parent’s memories was heartbreaking. Harry and Hermione dancing were hilarious. And all off the locations they camped at were beautifully shot. I just thought Britain meant rainy and London. Who knew?

The seven month wait for the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is painful to even write about in this review. I need to see how they conclude this series on film. They've exceeded my expectations over and over again so I just want to sit back and enjoy the ride.

10 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (remix)

Now this is just completely ridiculous. I reviewed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last year, what could have possibly changed! This seems pointless. Wait a second … reviewing movies is always pointless so why stop now! And more to the point, Half-Blood Prince had the best visuals in the series since Prisoner of Azkaban.

And the book eviscerations continue. To start there is no meeting of the ministers so we are not introduced to Rufus Scrimgeour. But, of course, he is necessary in the finale so will get to see Bill Nighy next time around. They removed the Dursleys again which wouldn’t have been that bad but this means no mention that Harry inherits Grimmauld Place and also Kreacher. Not that those plot points will play any part in the finale. I could have sworn that Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour become engaged in this one but I could have been imagining that. Although Harry has the only perfect invisibility cloak, Luna can see him because of her wacky glasses. And sadly we don’t get Luna on quidditch commentary. That’s a painful loss. There is no Trelawney so Harry never finds out that Snape overheard the prophecy that lead to his parents' death. And we don’t get Harry’s awesome argument with Dumbledore over this revelation. Now for the significant cuts that make me cry a bit just thinking about them. The majority of Tom Riddle’s back-story is cut and fuck you for that. There is no battle with the death eaters after Dumbledore is killed because they didn’t want to diminish the insane battle coming in the finale. Weak. Worse than that, there is no funeral for Dumbledore and no phoenix song from Fawkes. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the movie took a lot of damn liberties with the book.

Must move on to a happier topic. Who did they bring into the family this time around? Jim Broadbent portrays a very not fat and not facial haired Horace Slughorn. But he is Jim Broadbent so none of that matters once he appears on the screen. The remaining member of the Malfoy family is cast with Helen McCrory taking on the role of Narcissa Malfoy. Good haughty choice. And that’s that. Sigh there could have been so many fantastic characters to populate in the memories of Tom Riddle. Hopefully that will be my last whine.

Back to the positive side of life, the acting from the student population took a noticeable step forward in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Daniel Radcliffe has been constantly improving in each movie and really shines as Harry stoned on Felix Felicis and when he’s manipulating Slughorn. Emma Watson finally gets to do some emotional work and takes advantage, while also getting a cute moment as buzzed Hermoine. Out of nowhere, Tom Felton is phenomenal as Draco Malfoy. Its not like he was a bad actor in the first five movies, he was just barely used. This time around he puts Draco through the ringer. The adults do their usual work. I love Michael Gambon as Dumbledore and he easily has the most material to work with in Dumbledore’s swan song. There should have been more Rickman as Snape but every little bit counts. Where was Ralph Fiennes? Oh yeah … they cut the stuff he could have appeared in! Damn, I wasn’t supposed to bring that up again.

I mentioned it earlier, but David Yates is definitely more comfortable this time around. His artistic choices are much more striking in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The scenes at Spinners End, the path to Hogsmeade, the memories, and the Cave are all highlights. I'm very intrigued to see what he does with the last book.

Complaining is fun, but once again the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fine piece of work. I love the story that is told and I love the performers and I love the look, so what more could I want? The damn memories of Tom Riddle ...

9 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (remix)

Hmm, it’s only been a few years since I rated and reviewed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. That makes doing this a bit weird but I finish what I start (usually) so here we go. This is the turning point for the movie series since David Yates sits in the director’s chair and will never relinquish it. So I hope you like his style because he is finishing this thing.

Oh shit … this is going to be a massacre. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an absolute marathon of a book so I didn't envy the screenwriter. Right from the beginning there is no Mundungus Fletcher, which wasn’t a problem until he played a major part in the final book. Whoops. The continual bypassing of house elves continue as Kreacher is only shown in the background and he is never explained in any fashion or play any role in the story. Dobby is given the shaft again. The Room of Requirement gets 3 of the movies favorite alterations; Neville discovers it instead of Dobby, Hermoine narrates what it is even though she had no idea in the book, and Umbridge uses bombarda maxima to blow up a wall to get inside which goes against everything about the room from the book. Good times. We don’t even step foot in St. Mungo’s, so no Lockhart or Neville’s insane parents. Instead of wiping the floor with Fudge, Umbridge, Dawlish, Percy, and Kinglsey, Dumbledore just uses Fawkes to teleport from his office to escape arrest. Boo. Then Kingsley steals Phineaus Nigellus’ line because there is no Phineas Nigellus in the movie. No Quidditch, which meant no “Weasley is our King”. The cuts from the Ministry of Magic sequence are so significant that I can’t even list them all. This is a huge disappointment. And Bellatrix straight up kills Sirius in the movie instead of leaving it ambiguous as he falls through the veil. The Harry/Dumbledore confrontation and conversation is eviscerated to fit into the movie. They barely even explain the prophecy. I’d move on to nitpicks but I don’t have all day. The bottom line is that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was too damn big to fit into one movie and this is the fallout.

Alright that’s enough bitching let’s get on to the good stuff. We have gotten really deep into the franchise, so the amount of new characters to cast has gotten smaller. We only got two worth mentioning this time around. I despise Dolores Umbridge in the book and Imelda Staunton’s performance allowed me to despise her in the movie. I hate that character so very much. On the other hand, Helena Bonham Carter always brings something interesting to her performances. She made Bellatrix Lestrange her own and will always be how I view the character. Although those are the only big name additions, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix provided many of the returning actors chances to shine. Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, and Ralph Fiennes all dominate every second of screen time that they are given. This is also a heavier emotional movie for Daniel Radcliffe to deal with. He takes advantage in Dumbledore’s office and during his occlumency lessons. Thankfully, the boy actually has some talent. Order of the Phoenix was also the introduction of Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, probably the best child actor casting choices in the entire series.

So I spent about half a day bitching about what was left out of the movie, does that mean there is anything I like in the movie? That is an easy yes. Like I said a couple lines above, many of the adults are given just phenomenal scenes to ply their trade. Oldman nails every single line of dialogue he delivers. Alan Rickman uses the occlumency lessons as an opportunity to show why he was the only choice for Severus Snape. And Gambon and Fiennes are just incredible during the Dumbledore/Voldemort battle. Not only are their performances amazing, this scene is the highpoint of magical effects to this point in the series. They way they bounced spells off each other was beautiful to see. Although I usually don’t have much to say about the younger actors, I did think that all the Dumbledore’s Army sessions were very well done and another highpoint of the movie.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a weird movie to review because the only real complaints I have are what they didn't put in the movie. But judging the movie as a movie, it kinda rules. And the producers must have agreed, since they trusted Yates to director the rest of the movies.

9 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Once again, we turn the page to a new kind of Harry Potter movie. Not only do they switch the director to Mike Newell, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the first book that is quite literally too big to fit into one movie. So the tightrope walking begins here, in exchange for chopping up the book we finally start seeing some real action and real consequences in this world.

To bring Goblet of Fire in under two and half hours, they broke out the hacksaw so let’s sift through the debris. First of all the Dursleys do not even appear in the movie which was odd. Then the Quiddditch World Cup was skipped, although they took the time to do the team introductions then blew past the actual match. But worse than that … no Winky! Damn you I want more house elfs. On top of that, Hermoine doesn’t even start up SPEW. And where the hell is Dobby? Why do the movies hate house elfs? Going back to the World Cup, Ludo Bagmen is completely removed from the plot. Another character cut from the film is Bellatrix Lestrange which just delays her awesomeness for one more movie. No Bill or Charlie Weasley again and this time no Percy … damn it these brothers exist! For some reason, they brought Gary Oldman in for some voiceover work instead of actually using one of the best actors working today in any actual acting scenes. Finally, the climatic chapters of the book are just completely missing from the movie. I understand that Harry can’t recount the whole story to Dumbledore on film after we just saw it happen, but this was a great chapter of the book. Ah well.

We are four movies in of casting great actors; who is left? Goblet of Fire answers this by bringing in a Dr. Who, David Tennant, as Barty Crouch Jr. A completely unknown Robert Pattison as Cedric Diggory. The new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher is Mad-Eye Moody and Brendan Gleeson puts on the mechanical eye and growls for a couple of hours. Miranda Richardson is brought on as the horrifyingly annoying Rita Skeeter and captures all of that quite well. And in the most important piece of casting for the entire series going forward, Ralph Fiennes gets his nose removed and is the reborn Lord Voldemort. What an inspired choice and a man who is actually able to live up to the buildup.

I may have detailed about a dozen detours from the book but that does not mean that I have a negative opinion of the movie version of Goblet of Fire. There are some phenomenal moments in this movie. The dragon battle is the first legitimate action sequence in the franchise. It is a complete reimagining of the book version of the First Task but who the hell cares!?! That was a fun chase. To bookend that early sequence, they were somehow able to capture the creepiness of Voldemort’s rebirth. Much of this was Fiennes’ performance, but they didn’t shy away from the killing of Cedric or Wormtail cutting his arm off or Harry’s desperate battle for his life. And although it is another add-on that doesn’t exist in the book, but I love the scene where Hermoine hugs Harry before he faces the dragon. Awwwwww.

My main complaint is that the movie grinds to a halt and spends about half hour on the Yule Ball. This is about 2 chapters in the book, but takes up the entire middle portion of the movie. It ruined the flow of the movie just so Hermoine can wear a pretty dress and yell at Ron. Thanks. And someone needed to cut Daniel Radcliffe's hair.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may be my favorite book in the series so it would be impossible for me not to like the movie version. This is where Lord Voldemort finally appears and that is the only thing they had to get right and they passed with flying colors. I'm pretty much rating the entire movie based on that one scene. I have that right.

9 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

And now we come to the movie that made me a fan of the world of Harry Potter. Prior to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I saw the movies, enjoyed them, and then never thought about them again until I stumbled upon them on cable. I was fine with this. Then Alfonso Cuaron replaced Chris Columbus and made my favorite movie in the franchise to date.

One of the consequences of bringing on a new director with a new artistic style was many more alterations of the book. There were a ton of little nitpicks throughout the way and a few big left turns. The stuff that I notice every single time I watch include Harry using magic in the first scene of the movie. I know we need to introduce the world as soon as possible but come on! Respect the restriction on underage magic! Then you got the goofy talking shrunken heads that pop up a couple times for comedic value and nothing else. I’ll allow it. One of the biggest omissions to this point in the movies was never revealing who wrote the Marauder’s Map, which is kind of important. And the less said about bombarda the better … just unlock the window. Why must we blow up things in movies? Remember when I made fun of hugging Hagrid at the end of Chamber of Secrets? Yeah, I wish Prisoner of Azkaban brought that back instead of a broomstick freeze frame of Harry looking stupid.

Prisoner of Azkaban takes the casting to an even higher level or maybe I just love Gary Oldman a bit too much. That may be the reason. Oldman comes aboard as Sirius Black and just tears up every scene he is in. The pinnacle of this is the confrontation in the shrieking shack, which probably still stands as my favorite scene in the series. One of the reasons why is because one of the other actors in the shack is David Thewlis. Thewlis is Remus Lupin and he has always been a fantastic actor. He was able to depict Lupin as the professor that Harry trusted and learned the most from which is the key to Professor Lupin. The third big name introduced in Prisoner of Azkaban is Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney. She’s Emma Thompson so, of course, she delivered. The last name is kind of sad because Richard Harris died in between Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. This meant that Dumbledore needed to be recast, which is a goddamned big deal. Thankfully for me, they got another actor that I’m a big fan of, Michael Gambon, to fill his shoes. I prefer his more active take on the Dumbledore to Harris' still and quiet version but I may be in the minority.

I’ve already mentioned that the new cast members were one of the main reasons why I loved Prisoner of Azkaban. But it went farther than that. Cuaron’s visual style is such an improvement from Columbus that it is not even fair. He darkened the tone and had a clear color scheme throughout. It was a fantastic looking film. There were also numerous slick editing moments that just improved the whole deal. Man, I love the work that Alfonso Cuaron does in each and every one of his films. Another improvement was starting to move Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson into more acting heavy scenes. This wasn’t a perfect alchemy, since Harry screaming about Sirius being his parent’s friend was his weakest acting moment in the entire series. Still, they had to start holding their own because from here on in it will just get more and more serious and emotional.

I wouldn't call Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban a perfect film but, then again, I don't have any complaints. Alfonso Cuaron is one of my favorite directors working today and he brought that skill to the Harry Potter franchise. Throw in the addition of Gary Oldman and you have the ingredients to make my favorite Harry Potter movie.

9 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Well because of the rules of listing, there needed to be a Harry Potter movie that ends up in last place and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets took the honor. That doesn’t mean that it is a bad movie; it is just the only movie that felt like a sequel in the entire franchise. This might as well have been The Sorcerer’s Stone part 2 and that is a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the films.

Much like the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets does not deviate from the book in any significant way. Unless you really care about Professor Binns … now that I think about it, WHERE THE HELL IS PROFESSOR BINNS!?! Then you get the two nitpicks that I have this time around. First, why the hell do Harry and Ron talk in their own voices after getting polyjuice potioned? That defeats the purpose of having a potion that turns you into some else! If that were the case, Barty Crouch Jr. should have gone to Vegas with his Mad-Eye Moody impression in Goblet of Fire. The other nitpick will continue on for the rest of the series; Hermoine knows everything at all times. This time around she steals Ron’s dialogue from the book and explains what mudblood means. Damnit the point of the scene in the book was that Malfoy insults her and she doesn’t even know what it means! Bah. Oh wait I forgot … let’s hug Hagrid to end the movie because that makes sense. And this won’t even be the worst final scene of the series!

All of the major cast members return for their second go around. It becomes painfully obvious that Richard Harris is not a well man during the filming of the Chamber of Secrets. Sadly this would be one of his last performances. The newbies are once again high-level performers. Jason Isaacs is brought on in the important role of Lucious Malfoy. He clearly is enjoying every second of being the absolute douche bag that is Lucious Malfoy. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher replacement is Kenneth Branagh and he is just as annoying in the movie as Gilderoy Lockhart is in the book. And in a fun bit of casting, Toby Jones provides the voice of Dobby. What a great actor being brought in for such a ridiculous voice. Still not much to say about the kids, they get the job done without being all that memorable.

The Chamber of Secrets introduced us to the Burrow and once again the movies were able to capture the insanity of that building that the book described. That set was easily one of the best parts of the film. I also thought they did a really good job with Dobby. He may not have been on the level of Gollum but his CGIness wasn’t a distraction. And the climatic scene in the Chamber of Secrets was very well done. The young Tom Riddle who is not the young Tom Riddle in the Half-Blood Prince does provide us with the first glimpse of Voldemort setting the stage for his true introduction down the road.

Honestly, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the most forgettable movie in the franchise to me. Nothing distinguishes it from Sorcerer's Stone so I was happy to see Chris Columbus replaced as director moving forward. In the end, it is still a great movie but to me it just feels less special than the rest.

8 out of 10

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Since I’ve only watched each movie in the Harry Potter series about 100 times by now (thank you ABC Family), I think its about time for me to write some true reviews. It’s almost been a decade since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released and the quality of the franchise has improved so steadily that the first couple of movies are nearly unrecognizable. Still, I love me some nostalgia so here we go.

So, I think I’m gonna skip any sort of plot breakdown for these movies. For the later installments I can start pointing out the more significant departures from the books. That isn’t really necessary for the Sorcerer’s Stone because it sticks to the book rather strictly. Outside of no Charlie Weasley, the only really omission is a couple of trials protecting the stone. So no unconscious troll and no potion bottle logic test. Ah well, major stuff will start going missing down the road so this is quite quaint.

When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone came out there was just no idea of what we were about to get. At that point in time, it was still viewed as a children’s book series. The more adult books hadn’t been released and the phenomenon was still in its infancy. There was a very good chance that the Sorcerer’s Stone would just be a forgettable childish fluff filmed to just cash in. The first sign that this wouldn’t be the case was the their attempt to cast every single top shelf British actor. All of the major adult roles were given to people like Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, and Alan Rickman. This might as well have been the cast for one of Shakespeare’s plays. So even if the child actors were terrible, there was too much talent surrounding them to make a bad movie. Luckily Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint weren’t terrible but since this is about the Sorcerer’s Stone, they were still children here and just trying hard not to get in the way of the story.

The other big positive that the first movie made clear was the tone of the film. The Sorcerer’s Stone is the story of an 11-year-old going to his first year of wizard school but thankfully this didn’t mean that we were subject to cheap jokes and bright explosions. These movies have always been told in a serious tone with the magic being used as either a major plot point or just an every day task. The characters always came first and that is why the movie works. Some of the highlights of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were all the ways that they were able to translate Harry’s wonder at being exposed to world of magic for the first time. From the introduction of Hagrid, to his trip down Diagon Alley, all the way to his arrival at Hogwarts, these were all great moments. The chess set trial was also very well done. And right from the beginning, Alan Rickman owned the role of the Snape and made it impossible to read the book without hearing his voice.

On the negative sign was that this was 10 years ago and the CGI was weak in some scenes. The centaur, troll, and Fluffy could have all looked better. And they only stand out because the rest of the movie looked so damn good. Ah well, you can’t bat a thousand.

Wow, we have go back more than a decade to think about a time where there wasn't a Harry Potter movie to anticipate. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone set the stage by taking this story seriously and making a fantastic film. Later films will have more heavy plots to deal with and better movies will be made but that is not fault of the Sorcerer's Stone.

8 out of 10