Harry Potter - One Year Later...

Harry Potter - One Year Later...

Today marks one year since the release of the last Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. What better way to salute the "occasion" than putting the films in order of quality? I knew you'd agree.

This article contains spoilers for all seven books/eight films!

8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Film Six)

Dumbledore teaches Harry how to kill Voldemort (by finding and destroying 'Horcruxes' containing parts of his soul), before the wizened old headmaster meets his death at the hands of Severus Snape. By the end, Harry announces he is not returning to Hogwarts, deciding that he has to complete his mission alone.

Wait...so, Ron's the main character now? Oh.

The film was just littered with missed opportunities. Instead of growing up with its audience, much like the book had done, Half-Blood Prince decided to focus on comedy, shedding far too much limelight on Ron and Hermione's 'will they/won't they' relationship. People are dying left, right and centre in the outside world at the hands of Voldemort's Death-Eaters and instead we're forced to watch as Ron tries out for the Quidditch team and Hermione gets a little bit jealous! This film needs to sort out its priorities...

In the final act of the book, there is a breathless action sequence in which Harry chases after Snape, desperate for revenge. He passes his friends battling Death-Eaters in corridors, the castle is getting torn apart and Hagrid beats off Voldemort's followers with his bare hands. Yet in the film we are given a one minute conversation between Harry and Snape, in which Snape easily dismisses Harry and departs. Even as Snape reveals 'I am the Half-Blood Prince' the title hasn't even been mentioned for over an hour so we just don't care anymore. How exhilarating...

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Film Five)

Voldemort is back in physical form - a fact which the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe. Dismissing Harry's warnings as attention-seeking, they then do everything in their power to discredit him and falsely reassure the wizarding world that the Dark Lord has not returned. Meanwhile, Harry joins the 'Order of the Phoenix', an underground force determined to fight back against Voldemort's forces even if the Ministry won't. When it becomes clear that the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge is a sadistic bureaucrat working for the Ministry, Harry opts to train his fellow students himself for the inevitable war to come.

"So just jump over there and give the director a good slap."

Bizarrely, the longest book in the Harry Potter series became the shortest film - a fact which sums it up pretty nicely. Hundreds of plot points are missing. The Order of the Phoenix is a prime example of my view of the movies - they rely on you reading the books before you see them. At times it feels like the scriptwriters sat with a checklist of 'important stuff' from the book and just shoved it into the film. For example, Hagrid's half brother, Grawp, is seen once and then never seen again in any of the other sequels, despite appearing several times in the books. What was the point? On their own the movie adaptations might be fine, but as a series and as a whole, they don't quite click.

Still, it's not a bad movie in itself. It's got a decent script and, once again, the adult cast make it all the more entertaining as Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes and Imelda Staunton all play their roles with noticeable enthusiasm. Visually it's also stunning - the final epic confrontation between Voldemort and Dumbledore inside the Ministry of Magic is really brilliant. I can imagine the visual effects team sitting in the cinema thinking 'Yup. We did that.'

6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Film One)

I imagine if I wasn't the old fuddy-duddy I am now the first entry into the Harry Potter story would be much higher in the list, but looking from an objectively enjoyable standpoint, Philosopher's Stone sits at number 6. Kicking off the entire series, Philosopher's Stone tells the tale of Harry Potter, a young orphan who lives with his cruel aunt and uncle. Upon being told he is actually a wizard, Harry attends Hogwarts, a school designed to teach magical children how to control and enhance their abilities. He discovers that his parents were actually murdered by Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard whose body was lost when the killing curse he tried to use on Harry rebounded upon himself.

"I get paid HOW MUCH?!"

When I was younger I think my VHS player started to get a little annoyed at how many times it saw Philosopher's Stone being inserted into it. As a children's film, Philosopher's Stone can do no wrong - its visual effects are incredible, the story is hugely engaging (thanks to the book its based on) and director Chris Columbus does a brilliant job of letting the three young stars excel at their new game. Philosopher's Stone is the film that launched such an incredible cinematic series and allowed a whole generation to become aware of Harry Potter's story.

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Film Two)

Harry returns to Hogwarts for his second year, however a dark conspiracy threatens to shut down the whole school and condemn him to a life of living with muggles. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened." As muggle-born students are continuously put in harm's way, Harry, Ron and Hermione do everything in their power to find out who is responsible and why.

Graffiti artists at Hogwarts were pretty sadistic.

Much like its predecessor, Chamber of Secrets is primarily a children's movie, largely due to the fact that the main cast are still children themselves. The storyline darkens, however, and the humour steps up slightly. The second film in the franchise is incredibly loyal to the book on which it is based, and it provides plenty of exciting action sequences. Sure, there are still plenty of cheesy moments but when you were a kid filled with unending enthusiasm and unfamiliar with the concept of dry sarcasm, wasn't that just the bee's knees?

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Film Three)

  

Harry discovers that accused mass-murderer Sirius Black has escaped from the wizarding prison Azkaban and is looking for - uh oh! - him. Delving into his parents' past, it is revealed to Harry that Sirius was actually their friend and was wrongly accused of betraying their whereabouts to Voldemort, the act which resulted in their death. So who is the real culprit?

"Here's my number, so call me maybe."

As the cast members and the audiences grew up, so did the tone of the films. Throwing aside the wizarding robes and brightly lit hallways, Prisoner of Azkaban marks the series' foray into slightly darker, more trendy territory. Don't get me wrong, it's hardly the 'Batman Begins' of the Harry Potter series, but even the choice to make the characters wear their own clothes rather than the Hogwarts robes gives the film a bit more realism (as bizarre as that sounds).

The third entry to the movies is a good film that stays true to the vast majority of its source material (hooray!). The younger cast also progress smoothly into their more teenage-orientated roles, acting out the relatively cheese-free dialogue with ease.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One (Film Seven)

After Dumbledore's death, Harry decides not to return to Hogwarts to complete his studies. Instead, he begins tracking down Voldemort's Horcruxes in a desperate effort to destroy parts of his soul one by one. Ron and Hermione go with him, however bitter jealousy and old rivalries threaten to tear them apart. Meanwhile, Voldemort is searching for the 'Elder Wand', the most powerful wand in existence and rumoured to be one of the fabled 'Deathly Hallows.'

"Let us never speak of that horrific dancing."

Following the abomination that was Half-Blood Prince, I really wasn't expecting much from the second-last offering in the series. Luckily, I was completely blown away. Opting for a rightfully darker tone, director David Yates gives us an almost unrecognisable Harry Potter movie. We don't get to see Hogwarts and we don't get the comfort of knowing Dumbledore is keeping an eye on Harry. They're out in the wilderness on their own, fending for themselves. From the opening titles, in which the familiar Warner Bros. logo looms towards us, we can tell something is different - the pleasant music of 'Hedwig's Theme' is missing, and we have a harsh drumbeat signifying the beginning of the end.

Deathly Hallows: Part One is a fantastic adaptation of a complicated novel. The decision to split the film into two parts is one that was always inevitable, as the amount of content would never be told faithfully in one movie. The only qualm I have with the film is how much the momentum is lost after the first act. As soon as Harry, Ron and Hermione pitch their tent in the middle of a forest, the amount of dialogue and lack of action becomes almost unbearable. And what is with that dancing scene?

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Film Four)

Harry's fourth year begins with the arrival of two foreign wizarding schools arriving at Hogwarts, as Dumbledore announces the Triwizard Tournament will be held in the grounds. While no student under the age of 17 is allowed to enter, 14 year old Harry's name is announced as one of the competitors. Forced into a deadly competition he didn't wish to enter, Harry must find out who submitted his name into the Goblet of Fire and why, culminating in a horrific confrontation with Voldemort himself. 

Cedric Diggory: standard issue disposable character

Goblet of Fire is an appropriately balanced film - it's funny where it should be. It's perilous where danger lies. It's scary when we confront the unknown. Drawing from J.K Rowling's fourth book, director Mike Newell gives us a movie that skims over some of the more complicated, unnecessary points of the material, instead focusing on providing a really enjoyable spectacle. Sitting down in the cinema for the first time to watch it, the scene I had been looking forward to the most since I'd read the book was Voldemort's return - and the movie thankfully pulls it off. Ralph Fiennes makes a fantastically terrifying debut as the Dark Lord, with his servant even killing off Robert Pattinson! Bonus! 

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two (Film Eight)

 

Seven books. Eight films. Ten years of cinematic history came to a close on this day in 2011, with Deathly Hallows: Part Two hitting cinemas worldwide.  

Voldemort now possesses the Elder Wand, and Dobby has become yet another friend to die for Harry; with barely anything to go on and little time to spare, Harry, Ron and Hermione attempt to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes before an all out war begins. Unfortunately, the remaining Horcruxes can only be found within the walls of Hogwarts itself, which is now under Death-Eater control. Breaking through its defences, the students of Hogwarts promise to buy Harry enough time to kill Voldemort whilst holding off an immense attack from the Dark Lord's forces.

"Look out! Unemployment's coming!"

Deathly Hallows: Part Two wasn't perfect. Some parts were a little underwhelming, whereas others were incredibly weird (Voldemort hugging Draco) - but blimey, wasn't it fantastic? The battle of Hogwarts was absolutely stunning, with the special effects surpassing the heights of any Harry Potter movie shown previously. 

And yet the real appeal wasn't the spectacular set pieces or the intense action scenes - it was witnessing the emotional conclusion of a story we had watched for ten years. We'd watched Harry grow up from a small, oppressed child with no purpose to a man ready to do what is necessary to save his world.

Some fans complained that side characters didn't get their due - so what? This is Harry's story. The movie followed him from beginning to end, and Daniel Radcliffe finally shows us the true extent of what he can do in the role, with the supporting cast acting their socks off. 

Harry's final showdown, Deathly Hallows: Part Two certainly provided us with all the magic we needed, closing the book on Harry Potter's story and a legendary series of cinema.

Just do me a favour, Hollywood. Don't reboot it.

By Dean Johnstone

Dean Johnstone is a Media and Communications student who desperately seeks your approval. Let him know much you love him by sending heartwarming comments/love letters/poems to:

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Email: dean.james.johnstone@hotmail.com