The Story
Countdown to Harry Potter: Reviews of Films 5-7
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
The fifth Harry Potter film opens after Voldemort’s return to power and the wizarding world has taken a turn for the worse. While the ministry denies Voldemort’s return, Harry is attacked by dementors and Dumbledore reforms the Order of the Phoenix (a Voldemort resistance group).
The film is done well, but it is difficult to see past Harry’s teen angst. Harry’s constant moodiness (though not unfounded) is incredibly annoying and makes it the most difficult film to watch.
However, the film has some notable moments largely surrounding the creation of Dumbledore’s Army (a defense against the dark arts training academy started by Harry). The showdown between Harry and friends versus Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic is gripping and the duel that follows between Voldemort and Dumbledore is even more spectacular.
4 out of 5 stars.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
The sixth Potter film opens with a wizarding world that has finally acknowledged Voldemort’s return. Consequently, Voldemort and his supporters are acting out in the open and the world darkens more every day.
Harry and Dumbledore embark upon a mission to determine Voldemort’s past and how it may be connected to defeating him. Unfortunately, the film fails to execute this. The film cuts out most of the memories of Voldemort’s youth and fails to clearly describe horcruxes. It particularly fails to explain the types of objects that Voldemort might have chosen to turn into horcruxes and the places he would have chosen to hide them. This crucial bit of information will make the seventh and eighth film difficult for non-Potterites to understand.
In removing the story of Voldemort’s beginnings, the film causes some considerable confusion and is a huge disappointment. In doing this, they also removed the personal interactions between Harry and Dumbledore. The omission of such rich material makes this film a big disappointment and my least favorite of all because of its disloyalty to the books.
3 and ½ out of 5 stars.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1"
The seventh Harry Potter film received considerable criticism for it’s slow pace and amount of time spent in the woods. However, I feel the film was very well done and true to the book. For the critics out there, all of the boring stuff was completed with this film, Part 2 is a war film and will be a packed 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Some of the best scenes of the film include Ron destroying the horcrux, Harry and Hermione dancing in the tent, the fight in the Malfoy Manor and the visit to Godric’s Hollow. In my opinion, this was the best film yet.
5 out of 5 stars.
Check back later for a review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. It all ends here.