Random EPICness

The Harry Potter movies

The 2nd part of the Harry Potter post. just my opinions on the movies.

1. The Sorcerer’s Stone

When I first watched this I was actually quite disappointed. I felt that there were so many scenes and details left out. Watched with my dad who never read the books and he didn’t understand what was going on. I also felt that Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t a convincing actor (he’s vastly improved since then). But after watching this again years later, I actually think it’s not bad. It’s a pretty good first HP movie.

2. Chamber of Secrets

I really liked this when I watched it and I would still put this in my top 3 favorites of the HP movies. That final scene with the Basilisk is still quite memorable. And I also felt that even non-HP readers could follow this movie perfectly.

3. Prisoner of Azkaban

Many people say that it’s their favorite HP movie but I disagree. I loved that dark cinematic style of the movie and the way the Dementors were portrayed was awesome. But there were a lot of things I didn’t like or I felt were left out from the book. Also the way Sirius Black turned out to be a good guy just seemed a lot more sudden and unexplained. I don’t know, just felt the book did it better. I have to say though, that Time Turner scene is one of my favorite scenes of the HP series.

4. Goblet of Fire

Probably my favorite HP movie (Deathly Hallows part 1 is a competitor of that title tho). It had action, had all the important parts from the book, it had funny scenes (that Moaning Myrtle scene for example) and it had DRAGONS (fact: dragons are awesome). It’s just a solid HP movie for me.

5. Order of the Phoenix

My God, the worst HP movie. I didn’t really like the book that much either so maybe that didn’t help. When I first watched it, I didn’t like it. I watched it again a few days later, still didn’t like it. I watched it years later in anticipation of the 6th film, STILL didn’t like it. It was just… boring. David Yates’ style is not for everyone. Lots of awkward silences and stares. Not much action. Weird scene transitions and things aren’t explained properly. And I didn’t really like Cho Chang either.

6. The Half-Blood Prince

I was really worried about David Yates being the director for the rest of the films. But he redeemed himself with this one I think. Some people didn’t like it, but I enjoyed it. Lavender Brown was hilarious. Kudos to the actress. She really made the movie enjoyable. Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny were just a bore. Just awkward silences. No chemistry between the actors. Ginny is a lot more fun in the books but in the movie she’s just boring. Don’t know if it’s the actress or the Director’s fault. One thing that I think could have been improved (other than making the Ginny-Harry relationship less boring) is the revelation of the Half-Blood Prince’s identity (which is a big moment). Didn’t even explain about how he knew Harry had the book.

7. The Deathly Hallows part 1

Really loved it. From beginning to end. It’s my favorite book so I knew pretty much all the lines and scenes. And the movie was true to the book. And the story of the Three Brothers? Man that animation was amazingly well done. The only problem with the movie is that it’s pretty much incomprehensible to people who haven’t read the book. I just wished little lines of dialogues or scenes could have been placed that explained some things a bit more. Like the broken mirror Harry keeps looking at for example. Even as a HP fan, I had a hard time recalling what it was. Just a simple dialogue would have explained it for non-HP readers. (Hermione/Ron: “Hey Harry, what’s that shard of mirror you keep looking at?” HP: “Nothing… Just a memento from Sirius. I just thought I saw something in it…”) But I think David Yates made this for the fans. Most of the previous movies tried to appease both the HP fans and the movie goers who haven’t read a single book. This one was only for the fans.

8. The Death Hallows part 2

Watching this Friday. Should be epic. I just hope the director didn’t change a lot of major things. There were a lot of stuff in the trailer that confused many HP fans (the Voldy-Harry hug, for example).

For me, as long as they don’t screw up the amazing/shocking/sad Prince’s Tale (it’s hands down my favorite chapter of the entire series), I’ll be happy. If they did somehow screw it up, like if they made it a short flashback like in the Order of Phoenix (when Harry accidentally accessed Snape’s memory), I’d be pissed.

Well, these are just my opinions.

Like the movie tagline says, It All Ends this Friday.