Since last Monday, I was lucky enough to have the time to watch six of the eight Harry Potter movies. I decided to watch these because my sister mentioned that she wanted to watch the movies and I knew I had a way to watch the movies in my room so I offered to her and my brother to start watching the movies. My sister has only read books 1 and 2 and only seen movies 1-3, which she hardly remembered. So she was basically going into this blind and I felt this was a great way to not lose the place that Harry Potter had made in my mind.
The movies were both nostalgia filled and wonder at how I didn't realize how great these movies were sooner. I also watched the 20th anniversary documentary for Harry Potter recently so lots of nostalgia came back when watching the first movie. Seeing all the actors so young and seeing some actors like Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith was so much fun in the first movie. I think that while not perfect, the main three children gave great performances. I think that Daniel Radcliffe always sold being amazed at something he probably couldn't see. The VFX also held up really well in the first movie for being 20 years old. You can still tell what parts are CGI, but that didn't take away from the film for me. The casting for this movie was also great. Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint all played their roles extremely well, Alan Rickman was obviously great and so was other classic characters like Coltrane as Hagrid. Richard Harris as Dumbledore really fit the tone of the first couple films as we just start to learn about this magical world. I also thought that Richard Griffiths as Mr. Dursley was also a great cast because he plays unlikable and somewhat comical very well. Watching the story play out was great even when I knew everything that was going to happen. This goes for the whole series, but the camera movements and tricks throughout are stunning as well. The Harry Potter series went through a bunch of different directors, but one shot that seemed to make it through to each director was the "impossible shot" where the camera seemed to go through glass or impossibly small gaps with moving parts that would surely hit the camera rig if it happened for real. Of the six I saw I'd rank it at #5. The second movie was just like the first where things still have the new fresh side of magic, but it obviously gets darker with the basilisk and blood writings on the walls. Still a great cast because not many changes happened. The pacing works well because in the books there is so much more that goes on that we don't get to see in the movie so shortening each book would seem impossible, but it was done for each film, and it works well because there isn't a part where you are bored. You want to find out the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and what lies inside. The new magic we see like the magic car and the Whomping Willow are things that really show the step up in production because those both must have been very hard to pull off. The CGI still isn't perfect with people, but it is done really well with Aragog and the Basilisk. Looking at the close ups of Aragog's eyes still made me want to look away even though I'm 18 years old. The basilisk was also done really well. Both creatures benefitted from the fact that they are both shown mostly in darkness, so detail isn't as important, but we do eventually see is still very detailed. One thing I also didn't notice was that towards the end of the film Lucius Malfoy pulls his wand and starts a spell, but is stopped by Dobby, but if you listen the first part of the spell is Avada so Lucius was full on prepared to kill a 12 year old in broad daylight. I do think that this movie gets forgotten about some and that made me rank this movie as #6 of the six movies. Prisoner of Azkaban. What a great film I enjoyed this film from start to finish. Not only do we start to see the characters grow up some like the main three, we are also introduced to even more new magic and characters. Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Michael Gambon being the obvious stand outs in new characters. Even when I know that it's Gary Oldman, I still can't see it as him with the long hair. I'm so used to seeing him as Commissioner Gordon from the Nolan Batman trilogy. David Thewlis plays Lupin's character perfectly, and I came to the conclusion that Thewlis is underrated as an actor. I know that he was Ares in Wonder Woman, but I think that he is a very great actor and played Lupin like how he did in the book. Michael Gambon as Dumbledore... another perfect cast. He fit into the missing role of Dumbledore beautifully and even elevated it for the rest of the series. This has been said countless of times before me, but this is where I think that the HP series really does start to get to its darker points. Chamber of Secrets had its moments, and I wouldn't disagree if someone said that book/film is where it got dark, but I think that 3 brought us up a level in darkness. Part of that is the inclusion of the dementors, which are genuinely terrifying. This movie does know how to end on good high notes though. We go from saving Buckbeak, to Harry using his Patronus, and then to successfully rescuing Sirius as an innocent man. Very great way to end this rather dark film. Of the 6 I'd probably rank this at #1. Oooooh the Goblet of Fire. From all I've heard from my English teacher he doesn't like the story of this book/film and I would have to respectfully disagree. With the argument he makes I think could be made with almost any film that has some sort of conflict, so using that kind of argument to say that a story is weak because of thinking of such a simple conclusion doesn't really work in my opinion. I'll talk about the movie now. If Prisoner of Azkaban wasn't so good, I think that Goblet of Fire might be my favorite of all the HP books/movies. The Triwizard Tournament is a great breakup of the normal flow we've had so far in the first 3 books. It brings a new challenge with all new things we've never seen before. We've only seen a baby dragon and now a full grown dragon is chasing Harry around the school. This is a bit of a sidetrack, but another thing I noticed is that in every movie, if there is an animal or object that can fly it has to do a loop around the entire school before anything else can happen. Ok, back to the movie. We also don't see the merpeople before this movie as well. Portkeys are also a cool way of transportation even though they are made obsolete when someone learns how to apparate anywhere. Mad Eye Moody is an awesome defense against that dark arts teacher, even if it is Barty Crouch Jr. most of the time. Moody's actor does a great job portraying the character from the book into film. Cedric Diggory isn't a sparkly vampire, so that is an upgrade. This is also a turning point because we get Cedric's death. I haven't cried yet while watching these movies, but I was very close when Cedric's father is crying "My Boy!" at the end. I haven't given him credit in a bit but Alan Rickman playing Snape is so awesome because every reaction he has to something is so cool and you just want to like him no matter what things he does *ahem* Dumbledore *ahem*. This movie will go into the #2 spot right now. The Order of the Phoenix was not my favorite, but I still think that it had really good things in it. The actress that plays Umbridge still makes my blood boil and I wanted to scream whenever I heard her little cough thing. However, we get to see the Room of Requirement and Dumbledore's Army practice. Watching Neville finally figure out Expelliarmus is such a great moment. The moment with Harry and Cho is also good because it actually feels like they like each other. Unlike some other relationships that should not have happened at all (Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny). Watching McGonagall be a boss while still under the reign of Umbridge is awesome because McGonagall knows what she's doing and how to be an awesome role model. We also get to see Harry in his natural leader role. We've seen a little bit of it in the other movies, but this is where he seems the most comfortable being in charge of a group of other students close or even above his age. Also the final fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort is so cool. You really get to see two of the most powerful wizards go at it with different intentions in their actions. I'm almost a little bit upset at myself for not crying at Sirius' death, but it still hit hard even without any emotions. This one goes at #3 of the 6, but I think it'll drop when I finish all 8. Finally we're at the last one so far. Half Blood Prince isn't my favorite and I don't think it will ever be my favorite, but I still had fun with this one because Harry is treated like an adult and Dumbledore lets him do things an adult would probably be trusted with. Everyone is real cool in this movie. Slughorn, Ron, and Ginny not so much in my opinion, but I like everyone in this movie, even those I'm not supposed to like. Malfoy was evil, but also the tiniest bit sympathetic at the end. Bellatrix is an awesome villain as well. Harry, Hermione, Luna, Snape, Dumbledore were all great in this movie. It felt good watching them do their thing. Lots of the scenes with Malfoy were really good. Before this movie Malfoy was laughable as being seen as a villain or an actual threat, but in this he poses an actual threat to everyone even though he doesn't end up finishing the job. Again, the same as Sirius, I'm a little upset I didn't get more emotional when Dumbledore was killed. I was expecting to, but it never came. This movie did get me very excited to watch both Deathly Hallows right away though. Right now the only spot left is #4, but I might need to think about it some more if I want to put it above Order of the Phoenix.
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