So my partner and I recently decided to rewatch the Harry Potter movies. And then we moved on to the Very Potter Musical shows on YouTube. It's been a fun and interesting time! I'll just be talking about the HP movies here, maybe musicals next time.
Let me get this out of the way at the beginning: the books that these movies are based on have no author, JKR is a transphobe and that is unacceptable and gross. Having said that, horrible people can make great art that has a profound impact on people. Particularly if you grew up with this series and didn't know she was an awful person then. And while I do wish people would get over this series and stop supporting her and move on, it can be fun to revisit.
This was a cool rewatch because I never go back to the old movies. If anything I watch the first one maybe, or possibly the last couple but not the ones in the middle. It was interesting to go back and watch them knowing everything about the actors and the directors and the context all of this was in.
-The first movie is really good. The kids are cute, Hogwarts looks magical, it sets it all up perfectly. I also adore that the early movies were before CGI really hit and a lot of the special effects hold up well because they're puppets, which don't go out of date.
-The second movie is surprisingly also really good. It has the same director (Chris Columbus) as the first movie and the continuity in style and aesthetic is nice. The plot is much more complex, and it introduces you to the wider wizarding world. Honestly I was shocked at how great it was, it's a solid sequel.
-The third movie is far from my favorite. It's a different director and it looks completely different from the first two. Which isn't itself a problem, it's more that there are less ghosts and the trio is wearing Muggle clothes and it loses some magic with that. Also they completely leave out the background on the Marauders and I'm not into that it's pretty important. Oh and the background on Trelawney and how she actually has made prophecies hmm. They could have stopped the movie after the Knight Bus and it would have been improved.
-Fourth movie also isn't great. It's the one where no one cut their hair and that infamous Dumbledore line (DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET) but beyond that it's pretty ehh in general. Neville takes over Dobby's role. The Beauxbatons students are apparently all frilly girls and Durmstrang is all macho men which isn't accurate and pretty annoying to watch. The Pavarti twins are done dirty with those costumes. Bagman isn't included. Priori incantatum isn't really explained at all at the end. It's generally sloppy.
-Fifth movie has a lot going for it. Umbridge's portrayal is excellent, but I think a lot of the background on the Black family could be better, and the explanation of the Department of Mysteries. Seriously it's the site of the most important events in the movie, there could be more about it and what's in it, or the nature of the prophecies. Also Harry's relationship with Cho Chang is really really boring and that hits in this one. I will say that I really like how the "bad guys" in this book are technically on the same side as the protagonist. This series in general is great with the gray area between good and evil and that's highlighted here.
-Sixth movie is the worst by far. They turn it into a freaking rom-com, screw the rest of the plot. The half-blood prince is in the title, could have something about that somewhere. Ugh. I don't even want to talk about it.
-The seventh and eighth movies are both really really good thank god. They finally cared about continuity and being faithful to the books. It was the first series to split the final installation into two, and it was super necessary here. I love that Dobby comes back, the acting is terrific, and overall it's the ending that fans deserve for sure. Only detail that I wish was left in was how Wormtail dies, it ties up the loose end from the third movie and is completely absent from the movie.
Other thing to note is that a lot of the cast has died since these movies, and that's quite sad. But I think that they hold up rather well, and we had fun revisiting them.
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