Harry Potter
SERIES TITLE: Harry Potter
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RATING: Either PG or PG-13, depending on fantasy violence, brief language, and disturbing moments
GRADE: Pass
It takes many movies to tell the story of a young prodigy wizard named Harry Potter. His parents were slain by the dark sorcerer Voldemort and he grew up in a foster family that never gave a damn about him. And yet, with each year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, this everyday boy continues to impress as he gets closer to saving the world from Voldemort and his dark forces. But of course, Harry’s tale is so famous that a synopsis is almost unnecessary. You’d have to be living under a rock to not see him grow up into the powerful man he was by the end of the series.
I always give praise to fantasy and sci-fi movies that establish limits on a wizard’s power. With Star Wars, every Jedi was blessed with light saber skills and telepathic powers. In Harry Potter, the students’ magical prowess is what you’d expect of someone who isn’t blessed with beginner’s luck. Harry and his friends can only do so much with knock back spells and defensive shields. They’re not fireball slingers and lightning bolt throwers. And yet, this little bit of power is enhanced with creativity and slick thinking on Harry’s part. In the end, brains will always defeat brawn.
The one aspect of each movie that pulls at my heartstrings every time is the relationships between Harry and his fellow students. From the beginning, he establishes a close kinship with Ron Weasley and his family, so much so that Harry is allowed to stay at their house when he argues with his own foster family. And then you have the lovely Emma Watson’s character Hermione Granger, who is the very essence of a strong feminine character. She can take care of herself, but at the same time she stays loyal to those who need her. The romantic undertones are that much more believable with a strong female lead as opposed to a Mary-Sue.
Harry also has a profound influence on minor characters as evidenced in their trust of him when the authoritarian teacher Dolores Umbridge takes over Hogwarts. Strong characters make for a strong story. In the case of Harry Potter, they’re more memorable than the sorcery used to combat evil.
If you want an idea of how much of a strong bond the characters have with each other, listen to this. The actors who portrayed those characters were actually getting brokenhearted when the Harry Potter series was coming to a close. The audience was feeling their pain of loss every step of the way. Your heart would sink to the bottom too if you even heard a rumor about Emma Watson having tears in her eyes, knowing how much of an influence she had on the series.
But it’s true: the Harry Potter movies are finished and the actors have gone their separate ways. They’re closing the door on their final project, but the memories and the magic remain. Every spell cast, every enchantment placed, every scream of pain, every tear of joy, every bright smile, they’re not going away that easily despite the ending of a long running series. Each of these movies took a piece of our hearts and imagination with them. The audience has been begging JK Rowling, the mastermind behind the books that were eventually made into movies, for more Harry Potter stories. When the magic is that strong, it can’t be ruined by some jerk-ass saying “Get a life”. I can only close this out by saying one thing: long live Harry Potter!
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RATING: Either PG or PG-13, depending on fantasy violence, brief language, and disturbing moments
GRADE: Pass
It takes many movies to tell the story of a young prodigy wizard named Harry Potter. His parents were slain by the dark sorcerer Voldemort and he grew up in a foster family that never gave a damn about him. And yet, with each year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, this everyday boy continues to impress as he gets closer to saving the world from Voldemort and his dark forces. But of course, Harry’s tale is so famous that a synopsis is almost unnecessary. You’d have to be living under a rock to not see him grow up into the powerful man he was by the end of the series.
I always give praise to fantasy and sci-fi movies that establish limits on a wizard’s power. With Star Wars, every Jedi was blessed with light saber skills and telepathic powers. In Harry Potter, the students’ magical prowess is what you’d expect of someone who isn’t blessed with beginner’s luck. Harry and his friends can only do so much with knock back spells and defensive shields. They’re not fireball slingers and lightning bolt throwers. And yet, this little bit of power is enhanced with creativity and slick thinking on Harry’s part. In the end, brains will always defeat brawn.
The one aspect of each movie that pulls at my heartstrings every time is the relationships between Harry and his fellow students. From the beginning, he establishes a close kinship with Ron Weasley and his family, so much so that Harry is allowed to stay at their house when he argues with his own foster family. And then you have the lovely Emma Watson’s character Hermione Granger, who is the very essence of a strong feminine character. She can take care of herself, but at the same time she stays loyal to those who need her. The romantic undertones are that much more believable with a strong female lead as opposed to a Mary-Sue.
Harry also has a profound influence on minor characters as evidenced in their trust of him when the authoritarian teacher Dolores Umbridge takes over Hogwarts. Strong characters make for a strong story. In the case of Harry Potter, they’re more memorable than the sorcery used to combat evil.
If you want an idea of how much of a strong bond the characters have with each other, listen to this. The actors who portrayed those characters were actually getting brokenhearted when the Harry Potter series was coming to a close. The audience was feeling their pain of loss every step of the way. Your heart would sink to the bottom too if you even heard a rumor about Emma Watson having tears in her eyes, knowing how much of an influence she had on the series.
But it’s true: the Harry Potter movies are finished and the actors have gone their separate ways. They’re closing the door on their final project, but the memories and the magic remain. Every spell cast, every enchantment placed, every scream of pain, every tear of joy, every bright smile, they’re not going away that easily despite the ending of a long running series. Each of these movies took a piece of our hearts and imagination with them. The audience has been begging JK Rowling, the mastermind behind the books that were eventually made into movies, for more Harry Potter stories. When the magic is that strong, it can’t be ruined by some jerk-ass saying “Get a life”. I can only close this out by saying one thing: long live Harry Potter!
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