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 1
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.*
What a movie this is. While Deathly Hallows Part 1 didn’t have as much excitement as the rest of the movies in the series, it paid off big time here. It got all the “boring” stuff out of the way. And the result? Near non-stop action from start to finish. It moves at an almost frenetic pace for most of the two hour ten minute run time. And boy does it work. Every scene has an increased air of importance. It is the end of the line, after all. Any lingering story lines, any budding conflicts, everything has to be resolved by the end of the movie. Director David Yates and his crew realized that and took that seriously. And because there was still quite to get through, almost every scene had a heightened intensity. It was just fantastic.
Good triumphs over Evil
Nothing groundbreaking there, but I like how the movie presented this on screen. Even in the massive Battle of Howgwarts, amidst so much death and tragedy, it’s the Light, the Good, that is highlighted much more heavily. Greyback kills Lavender Brown? Hermione immediately hits him with a spell. Fred Weasley dies? The scene focuses on the Weasleys comforting each other, being there for each other. Aberforth is cynical, convinced the war is lost? Guess who shows up and saves Harry, Ron, and Hermione from a group of Dementors. Even when Harry goes into the forest to surrender to Voldemort, it’s done for the greater good.
Whether intentional or not, what these scenes (and others) subtly show is that there is always hope to be found, no matter how dark times may be. Voldemort rising to power is about as dark as it can get for our wizard friends. But even still, good remains in the world. It’s a simple, powerful message to show the audience.
Voldy, just kill Harry! Don’t waste time slapping and kicking him!
It’s the classic movie villain mistake. They have the hero right where they want them, yet they resort to essentially “playing with their food,” if you will. Voldemort had Harry down. He had him defeated. And yet he doesn’t finish the job.
The Chamber of Secrets
This was one of the weak points in the movie. Yes, Ron knows where the Chamber is and that there is likely a basilisk fang hanging around they could use to destroy a Horcrux. But you need to speak Parseltongue in order to gain entry. And Ron does this how? By imitating what he has heard Harry speak in his sleep. I call BS, major BS on that. First of all, Ron had to get it exactly right. It’s Ron, so that’s doubtful. Second, if Harry is speaking Parseltongue in his sleep, how could Ron be sure of what Harry was saying? How easy would it have been to work around this, you ask? Super easy. Just put in a 20 second scene of Harry teaching Ron and Hermione how to say what needs to be said. There, done.
But that’s not all, folks. Once inside the Chamber, and after they destroy another Horcrux, we finally see Ron and Hermione kiss. Because the book says so, these two end up together, no matter how unlikely it may be. Remember that How I Met Your Mother episode where they talk about each relationship having a reacher and a settler?
Yeah, Ron and Hermione is that to a T. Sure, Ron’s a good guy and all. But this is Hermione Freakin’ Granger we’re talking about here! She is miles and miles out of Ron’s league. And besides that, this didn’t feel earned. The previous six movies hadn’t done much at all to establish this type of chemistry between the two. Yes, it was alluded to a handful of times, but not in any way where it felt like these two should be together.
This thing
Molly Weasley: Certified BAMF
A true “stand up and cheer” moment. LET’S GO!
The Prince’s Tale
Severus, you poor, tortured soul. “The Prince’s Tale” is one the best and most beloved chapters of all the books, so its proper execution on screen was as important as any other aspect of this movie. And while we ended up with a(nother) case of a superior book version, there’s really nothing to complain about here. It presented so many emotions all at once. Tragic and beautiful, full of despair yet somehow also full of hope. Snape had as hard a life as anyone in this series, and that can’t go unnoticed. From his unrequited love, to discovering he had played a part in Lily’s murder. I defy anyone to say they didn’t get at least a little bit choked up during this scene. Alan Rickman nailed it. I won’t even get into how sloppy the planning was for how and when Snape was to give Harry’s these memories.
The end of it all
This was slightly disappointing the first time, if only because I had built up these massive expectations in my head. I’ve since moved on to consider it to be a serviceable climax. But the way it was set up in the book was far superior. In the Great Hall, with everyone watching, Harry taunting the Dark Lord.
But in the movie? It’s just Harry and Voldemort. Nobody else sees it go down. Nobody happens to come out as Harry defeats him once and for all. It’s a fine ending and I don’t really have any huge complaints about it. It was just a little underwhelming.
The epilogue
Ugh. This was not great. The old people costumes weren’t done very well. The forced mention by name of Harry’s son, Albus Severus was so incredibly shoe-horned in. Worst of all was the general feeling of this scene. It just felt unnecessary. Big time book apologists would have had a fit, but I think it would have been perfectly fine, perhaps even better, to end the movie earlier and not include the epilogue at all.
Not included from the book
Harry defends McGonagall
This was honestly one of the best – and one of my personal favorite – moments from the books.
Sometime’s Harry’s nobility turns devolves into stupidity or carelessness. But here (okay, it might have been verging on careless) it’s a moment that helps define and show who Harry really is. And in an epic way, nonetheless.
When the rest of the students stand up for Harry
Okay, yes, I realize this scene is very much in the movie. But it wasn’t nearly as effective or powerful as the book description was. That was a rare miss in the series. Normally when a scene is so closely adapted from page to screen, it’s done quite well. But this time? Swing and a miss for me.
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