With Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald coming out this November, I figured this was as good a time as any to revisit the Harry Potter films. And it’s the 20th anniversary of the release of Sorcerer’s Stone the book, so even more reason. I’ll be looking at the original eight one at a time, before finishing with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. These won’t be regular reviews per se, but more of a review/reflection combination.
The review and subsequent rating will be based on the movie by itself; I won’t take into account how it compares to or differs from the accompanying book. But if there are notable people, scenes, etc. left out of the movie, I might make mention of those as more of something that I wish had been included simply due to my personal opinions.
And in the spirit of honesty, these look-backs won’t necessarily have the same structure. Some might be long and in depth. Others might be shorter and more light-hearted. Whatever I feel the day(s) I’m writing will be what comes out. Should make it fun. Keep it spicy, I like to say.
I don’t have any sort of release schedule planned for these. Just know that I will be done before Crimes of Grindelwald is released on November 16. These are also not in conjunction with Chris’s revisiting of the Harry Potter book series (as of this blog being published, he has written about Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban).
Rest of the movies
Sorcerer’s Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Half-Blood Prince
Deathly Hallows Part 2
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
*It shouldn’t be necessary given how long the movie has been out, but this will contain spoilers.*
There’s honestly not a whole lot to say about Deathly Hallows Part 1. I still like it just fine, and it’s far from a bad movie. But three’s not a lot to it, it just kind of happens. It still has its moments, of course, and I’ll get to those, but for the most part it just meanders along. I mean, there’s a literal stretch of literally watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking and camping, walking and camping.
As soon as it was announced Deathly Hallows, the 7th and final book, was going to be split into two movies, it seemed fairly apparent one of two things would happen. We would either finish the epic series with one “okay” movie and one very good movie; or two average movies. Well, we ended up with the former.
In doing that, DH Part 1 had two important jobs. It had to cover enough of the story so that DH Part 2 could come in hot and not let up until the very end. That was going to be the only way for the two-film setup to really work. Second, it had to finish strong. I would describe a good portion of Part 1 as boring. Because of that, it had to nail the ending so that audiences would be properly excited for Part 2. Now it’s true that big fans, especially fans of the books, would be excited for Part 2 no matter what, it was important to keep the less-engaged fans interested. And fully to the film’s credit, it did both of those exceptionally well.
So with that, let’s get into Deathly Hallows Part 1. It won’t be a particularly long post; at least when compared to what I’ve had for the other movies.
Memory charm on Hermione’s parents (sup Catelyn Stark?)
Oh, no, there’s nothing more here. Just had to point the Game of Thrones cross-over. That’s all.
Mundungus? Really?
For as smart as the Order leaders are, this was a colossally stupid move. Anyone with half a brain could have guessed Mundungus wouldn’t have been up to the task.
The Burrow
Lupin makes a big deal about confirming Harry’s identity, and then does the same with Kingsley. But after those two? Completely forgets it. He realizes there was likely a leak somewhere, so it would stand to reason that perhaps one or more Death Eaters had infiltrated the Order. What’s the point of confirming Harry and Kingsley’s identities if you’re not going to do the same for everyone else?
Stupid Harry
(Skip to 1:16 if it doesn’t start there automatically)
Come on Harry. What will it take to get it through your thick head? You are not competent enough to take on this kind of mission without help. What events over the previous 6 years would make you think you could?
The Tale of the Three Brothers
I’m all the way here for this. The Tale was a vital part to the story, but its reveal was bound to be heavy in exposition. This was a great way to inform the audience in a fun, engaging manner.
Dobby is delightful
What a redemption. Dobby had been one of the most obnoxious characters up to this point. But he’s awesome here. From showing up at Grimmauld Place (and hilariously keeping Kreacher out of his way) to saving the day at Malfoy Manor, to trying to attack Bellatrix by unscrewing the chandelier, to his heartbreaking death. Dobby ended up having a great – though ultimately tragic – run.
Dobby’s death also acts as a perfect emotional gut-punch to finish the movie with. It leaves a lasting emotional impact on the audience, one they won’t soon forget.
Not included from the book
Give Dudley his redemption!
This seemed like a no-brainer to include. From the beginning, Dudley had been following the example set forth by his parents and had treated Harry like garbage from Day 1. And while telling someone you don’t think they’re a waste of space isn’t exactly high praise, it’s an enormous step forward for someone like Dudley. It would have only been an extra few minutes; it would have been easy to include this scene.
Taboo spell on Voldemort’s name
The taboo, as a reminder, was a spell put on the name Voldemort. Whenever it was spoken out loud, the Death Eaters would know the location and would travel there instantly. I had no problem with this part being left out. There are, however, two moments in the movie where it seems as though there is a taboo, yet it’s never explained. After the trio escape from the Burrow, one of them says Voldemort’s name. Minutes later two Death Eaters arrive and attack them at the coffee shop.
Later, at the Lovegood’s house, Luna’s dad says his name to call the Death Eaters to the house. It was small enough that some people may have missed it. Or they could have gathered from context why Xenophilius spoke his name.
No Dumbledore backstory
This briefly alluded to throughout the movie. There is even a brief mention of Rita Skeeter’s book about Dumbledore’s life. Similar to Voldemort’s backstory in Half-Blood Prince, Rita Skeeter’s book provided a fascinating look into Dumbledore’s earlier years. It seems as though we will get at least a taste of that story with the new Fantastic Beasts films. But it remains to be seen how Dumbledore-centric any of those upcoming movies will be. And we had no way of at the time that five more Harry Potter universe movies were coming. It won’t happen but I would be 100% behind Fantastic Beasts 3 or 4 being a flashback/prequel-type movie focusing on the Dumbledore years covered in Skeeter’s book.
Like I said, short(ish) and sweet(ish). But that brings us to Deathly Hallows Part 2, the last of the original run.
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