4.Half-Blood Prince
This was very enjoyable. Think this could've went a place or two higher if i didn't already know stuff about it going in from hearing people talk about it. I knew Snape killed Dumbledore and i knew it turned out in Deathly Hallows that he wasn't actually bad. I didn't know exactly how it all happened but it still made it less effective. Was surprised that Dumbledore reveals Snape isn't actually bad and that it's planned in Half-Blood Prince: during his brief talk with him that Harry overhears Snape is clearly saying he doesn't want to do something and Dumbledore is saying he has to, not sure how else you could read that after he kills him.
This took a while to get going, not that much happens in the first hour. The Half-Blood prince mystery is interesting but my guess was correct right away, and some of the stuff that should have been great was fairly underwhelming. In particular the Dumbledore-Young Tom Riddle meeting, it was good to get the answer to whether Dumbledore knew how he'd turn out back then, other than that it wasn't great though. The love subplots were meh too, it makes sense that these are a part of the series now that they are 16 but i don't think they are done
particularly well and the goalie character who is into Hermoine was so bland. Hermoine being into Ron and him not realizing was pretty annoying too; you'd think at this point they'd stop portraying him as a moron but whatever. It wasn't all bad it just dragged the film down a bit considering how much of it there was. All of the stuff with Harry and Dumbledore wa great thankfully, Dumbledore's death was probably the most powerful moment up to this point. Solid.
3.Deathly Hallows Part 2:
This one was really entertaining, third best for me. It's basically a full film of the end of the quest/showdown half an hour or however long you got in the first six films. The story was just okay, but there was some solid action and it was always exciting.
I liked watching the snape flashback it was pretty powerful and stuff, it would be pretty difficult to not have figured it all out already though. Snape being in love with Lilly was obvious as he never says a wrong word about her while always badmouthing James: suppose James bullying Snape was thrown in to throw you off the trail but i always figured it was that, Snape being good and being ordered to kill Dumbledore was spelled out in Half Blood Prince when Dumbledore says "surely you aren't getting second thoughts". The only part was potentially new information was Harry having to die that wasn't hard to figure out either though, it's been obvious throughout the series that part of Voldermort was in Harry. Plus he doesn't even die, big copout. It also makes James look pathetic, unimportant and like an *******. One other random small yet important thing that annoyed me was Ron memorizing what Harry said in his sleep to be able to talk parseltongue. Yeah, sure the dude who in the last film was made to believe he had a wife remembers exactly what Harry had said in his sleep, way too convenient and not something that suits Ron. I suppose they made Ron do it so he played a big part which he rarely does, would have made more sense if it was Hermoine though. Not something that i care about but since it's imprtant, Ron and Hermoine and Ginny and Harry is probably the best couples for it to end up, not that i think either were done particularly well but whatever. One last great thing was Neville and Mama Weasley getting their moments; two of the best characters.
So yeah, pretty meh story and very underwhelming that Harry lived. Good action and excitement though makes it one of the best in the series.
2.Prisoner of Azkaban:
Oh my god, i'm baffled at how little of this i remembered. As i said i read and watched up to Goblet of Fire; everything else is new to me, this was the last one
i watched/read more than once so i thought i'd remember more. I mean alot of it did come back to me when certain things happened but the only things i remembered
was it was about Harry's godfather Sirius Black who is a werewolf falsely imprisoned in Azkaban although he's set up as the villian at first, i couldn't remember
what the story was there though and the only other thing i could remember was the magic bus. I forgot all about Peter Pettigrew, Lupin and the time travel, well
pretty much everything else too but those are major things that i'm surprised i didn't have a vague recollection of at least, funny thing was i laughed at the second
time Ron points out Hermoine appearing out of nowhere and still it didn't come back to me. I think this was a good thing though as i thought this was great. Not the
biggest fan of Cuaron: Y Tu Mama Tambien is his only other film i like, this works so well though. Lupin and Sirius Black are really great characters, the shift
to more outright dark and mature tone and themes is a welcome addition; i think a big part in this working is Ron, Harry and Hermoine being visibly older in it, it takes you out of the more childish former two. Not sure the story behind it but i think the extra year taken between Chamber and this worked out for the best. Great
direction from Cuaron; he really brought alot of the imagery in the book to life, and surprisingly good performances; i especially love Gary Oldman and David Thewlis. Very good film, deserving of its reputation i think. This was the best film in my opinion, although not my favourite.
1.
Order of the Phoenix
Well, this was the first one i had not seen or read before. Surprisingly this was my favourite of the series, don't really hear it mentioned that often so i'm not sure of the consensus on it, i enjoyed it alot though. I don't think this is as well made as Prisoner of Azkaban but i liked this a bit more. Maybe it's because i hadn't seen this before, i don't think that played that big of a part in it though as i had forgotten most of PoA and also i didn't prefer any of the other
three i had not watched before. There's also a good chance that i benifited from not reading the book as i imagine a fair amount was cut out and condensed considering Order of the Phoenix is the longest book and this is one of the shorter films. The tone was so ridiculously creepy and sinister here i loved it. The very sweet and calm seeming Miss Umbridge coming across like a seriously in denial nutcase was great, the best face of a dictatorship. It's a simplistic take on it but i still think it was a good idea; controlling the media, education, how people live their lives, harsh punishment for deviating from accepted standards, was fairly well transferred to a wizard setting i thought. It was also a nice touch having the underground magic society; basically the rebels. The mystery doesn't always work for me in these films not because i think i've figured it out but i usually don't get that wrapped up in it, i did here though. I wasn't sure which would be worse the Minestry of Magic working with Voldermort, him controlling them or them just being in denial out of fear. On the face of it the first two seem worse but i don't know, them being so scared that they won't accept he's back and thus won't try to come up with a plan to fight him not to mention actively supress any attempts to do so is a massive endorsement of his power. They're basically burying their heads in the sand and hoping he leaves them alone and if not they are more or less accepting their fate without a fight. That's so creepy to me, especially because it could be read as them trying to peacefully (and forcefully) enjoy the rest of the time they have. Was so happy that they went with the scared/denial angle, i was heavily expecting a twist that he was controlling them.
All of the new creatures and characters introduced were good new introductions. One negative that actually has a positive is the CGI Giant; jesus christ that thing looked horrendous. Not sure if it would've looked good at the time but it's outdated now at least: Harry Potter was pretty notorious for basically being a year behind in CGI throughout though. It was a sweet scene which is the positive side of it, just wish it looked better. Good story developments too. Hilariously Harry's dad being a bully to Snape is the twist that worked on me the most in the whole series. Also enjoyed the finale, Dumbledore was badass, was good to see him properly fight finally. Plus Sirius death especially how quick it was worked well.
One thing i don't really get here is Harry not having said anything about Malfoys dad being a deatheater in the time between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. I mean i understand it's a wise decision considering how powerful he is as well as Harry's personal problems with him and his son potentially placing doubt on the accusation, i'd just expect Harry to have went to Dumbledore immediately without thinking and Dumbledore advising him not to for the time being. Harry taking it on his own initiative seems too wise for him, but then it could be part of him growing up and beginning to understand how the world works which would be a nice touch. I also
wouldn't be surprised if this was addressed in the book; say during the scene before Harry goes into his hearing he has a staring match with him, if that happens in the book i imagine Rowling might have went into it there and there's no way to do so in the film without creating an inner monologue which i'm glad they didn't do.
Anyway, storywise i don't think this one is all that important. They all add to the overall story of course but this felt like a pit stop between Goblet and the last two; it was more about the mindsets of every one dealing with his return using another MacGuffin with the Prophecy (well not exactly, it does have purpose but i'd argue it isn't that important overall) not all that much is added to the overall story. In the end though this was the one i enjoyed the most all things considered.