The Harry Potter Movie Series: A Comprehensive Analysis/Review
Preface:
Recently I re-watched the Star Wars movies and reviewed them all. Then I got the brilliant idea to do the same with the Harry Potter movies, as I also procured them in glorious blu-ray. So here I am, reviewing them all.
The nostalgia force is strong with these movies. I grew up reading the books and the seeing the movies. I love the series. I’m a fan, but I can still not-like parts of them. It isn’t going to be all rosy — that is what I’m saying. I looked at them on their own merit rather than asking they copied the book 100%. Because movies are a different medium and a movie can clone a book perfectly and it won’t work on the screen. I’m reviewing movies. The Harry Potter movies. I’ll reference the books, to be sure, to say whether I thought one did an aspect better than the other, but I’m not going to complain if it didn’t follow the source. That is silly. They are each their own creatures.
Anyway, that’s it for the preface. All eight movies, reviewed below.
The Movies
Rankings:
Of course, I am going to have to rank them. (Specifics are subject to change on a daily basis, but the core idea of the list is consistent.)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
This is a pretty contentious ranking, I think, but dammit, I’ll defend it. For now anyway. As with my Star Wars rankings, my opinion changes all the time, so it is more of a general trend rather than hard numbers. I had trouble positioning some of the middle-high ones. No problem with the bottom three. The top one is pretty stable, but its hashing out the runner ups that always get me. But there it is. Ranking.
Conclusion:
I grew up with Harry Potter. The series has stuck with me ever since I first was exposed. It is a part of my cultural outlook and identity to a certain degree. The books and movies are something special to me. I can analyze them and critique them, I can know and point out their flaws and maybe hate parts of them, but I love them nonetheless.
I love Harry Potter with all its stumbling and errors. Not equally, but totally. I love the movies just the same.
