Over the years, the Harry Potter films have grown to be much more than a film franchise; they’ve become a global and cultural phenomenon. It not only catapulted it’s actors and creators to unprecedented heights of fame and made billions but also integrated itself into the film culture forever. To this date, there are thousands of active Harry Potter discussion forums with a substantial amount of traffic. Thousands of pop culture references are made about this film constantly. Having forgotten majority of the details about the films, I decided to watch (or rewatch) this entire film franchise and try to find out what made these films as popular as they are and offer some comments from a cinematic point of view. Stay with us as we’re going to review all the films, so it’s going be a long post, but we’ll try to keep it brief.
1.) Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
The first film in the series directed by Chris Columbus that sets things in motion for the franchise. A few minutes into the movie, and it’s clear that the film is targeted at younger audiences. The CGI in 2001 wasn’t nearly as excellent as it is now, but the film still manages to tackle poor CGI by some clever camera angles and shots. There’s a charm about this movie that’s hard to describe, or maybe it’s just nostalgia which apparently is the greatest human weakness second only to the neck (Dwight Schrute, anyone?). The film isn’t much storywise; it instead serves as an introduction to the characters and the world you’re going to spend a lot of your time in. The plot is detailed, and I failed to notice any major inconsistencies, which you have to thank the source material for. The film is light-hearted, and you can also watch it with your family. But the film is slightly longer than it should’ve been. Midway into the movie, you start to realise it’s length and the pointlessness of some of the scenes. This film also kick-starts the underlying plot, you-know-what I’m talking about.
Rating- 3.5 / 5
2.) Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)
They must have shot the first two films back to back as there’s only a single year gap between them and a significant amount of time goes in the post-production side of things. The film is very similar to its predecessor in style but not to the point that it becomes entirely predictable. There’s a back story right from the first film about the major storyline which will soon find its way to the centre in the coming films. The plot is more cohesive than the first film, and the progression is also much better. Harry also has a fair amount of character development as we see him challenging himself and questioning his identity more maturely. This film is what I think the first one tried to be, but this one succeeds in departments the first one failed to impress in. I never felt the length of this one despite the runtime being longer. I found it much more engaging than the previous one and packing more entertainment.
Rating- 4 / 5
3.) Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
This film had Alfonso Cuaron in the director’s chair, so naturally, I had high hopes from it. But it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I found this to be the least exciting movie of the franchise so far. Some call this the best film of the franchise, but I disagree. I think Alfonso was brilliant; it’s just the predictability that took the fun out of the movie for me. Harry, at his uncle’s home, looks like with the right push he can go full-on Brightburn (ofc i’m not serious). The first half isn’t very interesting and barely managed to keep me glued to my seat, or it could also be because I already kind of had an idea what was about to happen (I still remember Sirius Black very well from my previous viewings, you can’t really forget Gary Oldman). The film is slightly more mature than the last one, which was a smart move as the audience had also been growing older with the films during the time of release. Its the first film so far which doesn’t add to the major underlying plot in any way, there’s no Voldemort in it. Instead, it introduces several other characters which moving forward are going to be pivotal. The last part of the film meddles with some sci-fi tropes that have now become common and predictable, but the brilliance of the script is evident despite of it. This film also had more memorable dialogues than any other. It was entertaining throughout, but I’m expecting the next film to be better.
Rating: 3.5/ 5
4.) Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005)
Honestly, this one should be retitled as Harry Potter and The Terrible Hair. Why does everyone have long hair in this one? Ugly, long hair, it’s bothering. They changed the director in this one too; they should have just let Alfonso stay after the overwhelmingly positive response the previous film received. The film has an interesting plot, and the first half is so captivating that it didn’t let me pay any attention to the flaws if any. The plot flows as smooth as butter in the first half. Then they get into their tournament, where I feel the film fails to give proper significance to some emotional aspects of the characters. There were no budget restrictions with this one evident by the presence of heavy CGI. The film gives some minor plots to secondary charterers and a chance for them to grow so that they’re no longer just characters on a paper. I still believe that the film would’ve been much better had Cuaron stayed in the director’s chair. The ending is where the SHIT GETS REAL! At last, the one character I’d been waiting for has finally arrived. I’m excited for the next one.
Rating: 3.8 / 5
5.) Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix (2007)
My favourite film of the franchise so far, it’s a visual treat with some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in the entire franchise. This one has a different style, the previous films are all drenched in European and British culture and traditions, but this one feels more modern. Harry’s muggle family is always fun to watch, and they serve the same purpose cold opens do in sitcoms, some lightheartedness before the plot and narrative kicks in. This film is political and much darker from the previous offerings of the franchise, try comparing it to the first film. As I said, the franchise gets darker and mature with every film. The soundtrack on this one is brilliant, better than any previous film. There’s a lot of political drama in this one that’s well-executed, and that’s precisely why I like this film. Also, this is the only film with heavy, intense action (battle or fight scenes, in particular) that’s well directed, and the visuals are a treat. Wonderful, but not without its flaws. Some characters don’t get enough screen time and fail to make any lasting impact, won’t give the details as I intend to keep this review spoiler-free.
Rating: 4 / 5
6.) Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince (2009)
Alright, David Yates is the best thing to have happened to this franchise, and even the producers knew it, so they kept him to direct all of the remaining films. While other directors have avoided shots of the Muggle world, Yates always opens his films in that world with elusive shots of London and other places. This film is darker than the previous films both in tone and plot. The film is light-hearted in the first part which I don’t object to because for what’s about to follow, you need some of the lightheartednesses in the beginning. Secondary characters don’t have much to do in this film so they with the who’s horny for whom routine to give them something to do, which in my opinion wasn’t a good decision. I know that Hogwarts is still a school and the characters are still teenagers, but maybe don’t dwell on that too much? They’ve all played important roles in the previous ones, why get rid of them now? Draco Malfoy finally gets a character arc of his own in this one; I always felt he hadn’t been given enough attention even though he’s one of the most memorable characters in the entire franchise. The final act is brutal; if you have seen the film, you know what I’m talking about, it’s as intense as any action thriller and full of surprises. By the end of this one, the stage for the final act has been set. As much as I enjoyed the previous film, this one despite being similar in style isn’t as good as The Order Of Phoenix because of its flawed first half. The film is titled The Half Blood Prince, yet they barely give any significance to him. It was still an interesting film and fun to watch throughout.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
7.) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
The stage is set. The end is nigh. After the incidents of the last film, it is finally time for Harry to face his nemesis, but there are still some things to be taken care of. A two-part finale was in order considering the vast plot and the massive number of subplots. I don’t understand why they had to wait for 6 films to introduce Hermione Granger’s family? I mean, it’s not like there’s nothing to tell there. There are certain nostalgic moments in the beginning (Harry checking his old bedroom, the cupboard) to remind the audience how everything’s going to change, and how all of its going to end soon. It has proven to be an effective method to increase audience engagement, and it works. The genius of Yates is on display here, the beautiful shots of London, the immersive nature shots, and most notably the tone and pacing of the film. The pacing here is slower than any of the previous films, meant for the bonding of the characters. It is my favourite film of the franchise so far; they don’t use many cast members, for the most part, it’s just the three of them as they figure some things out. I don’t like how engaged I’m with the film, which serves as a proof of the brilliance of the screenplay. Also, I have a problem with how little of the screen time Voldemort gets, he’s the most interesting character of the bunch and yet you don’t know much about him. We get to see him for a few minutes in the beginning and then a little every now and then, but he’s not assigned any significant backstory in any of the films. While the finale is no time to dive into the backstory of the villain, the previous films should’ve done that. They never mentioned more of him than they needed to; the reason behind his ideologies is not apparent. Maybe there’s more than in the second part of the finale. But still, an excellent film, if the second part is a further improvement than this one, it’d nearly be a masterpiece. I’m excited!!
Rating: 4.5 / 5
8.) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
The final film of the franchise, the conclusion of all that has happened. In terms of tone and pacing, it’s not similar to the first one. The film takes a decent amount of time building up the final segment, but ultimately it feels a bit rushed. This one picks up exactly where the first one leaves, but I’d hoped it’d keep everything that made the previous film so unique. In parts, this one feels like any average action thriller, but it quickly gets over them. The second act is the highlight of the film and is followed by a flawed but satisfying finale. There’s not much to say here; there’s nothing so remarkable or inherently different about this film to mention. I still feel Voldemort didn’t get enough development as a character, he was just treated as an antagonist without giving a healthy amount of depth to his character, and he’s not the only character to have suffered like that. But, it doesn’t bother me too much, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I have no problems with the ending. It has been a fantastic journey.
Rating: 4 / 5
Final Thoughts
Their popularity is massive, even viewers who can’t pick up on the themes of the film call this their favourite film just because of the fantasy world and all the magic there is. Their fan base is toxic, one of the reasons I’d been avoiding watching these films for so long. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. This franchise is terrific, and the world JK Rowling has created is beyond whatever praise I can offer with words. I watched a film every day, and it was like they had become a part of my life. But there are some things I think the franchise needs special praise for. Columbus presented the wizarding world before our eyes, Cuarón expanded it, Newell made some contributions. Still, it was under Yates that the films took a final form and started dealing with the more mature, political, and darker themes of the source material and had more atmospheric drama (especially DH1). The films have stayed faithful to the source material and despite having a massive commercial appeal, have never intended to be crowd-pleasers (DH2, maybe). The success of these films probably led to the creation of numerous other franchises like the Dark Knight Trilogy and even the MCU.
By the way, I want a Voldemort spinoff, a movie or TV Series; I don’t care. Look at it this way; he’s easily the most interesting character of the bunch. All sense of mystery surrounding Harry Potter is the reason why you’re fascinated with the character, but all of that mystery originates from Voldemort himself. Without Voldemort, he’d been just a regular kid. They were both equally important to the franchise, yet one of them didn’t get the treatment it deserves.
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