Sorcerer’s Stone: Robbie Coltrane/Richard Harris/Maggie Smith/Alan Rickman/John Hurt/Julie Walters/John Cleese: 4 stars
This one is a little childish, but it is in keeping with the book, which is good. It is meant for kids, so it is very fun loving and family friendly. It brags a magnificent cast of ace British actors, and not one falters. Even the young actors are good, keeping up well enough with the experienced adult actors. It is long, but it is very easy to look over that problem. And a tip-of-the-hat to Maestro John Williams’ score is needed.
Chamber of Secrets: Kenneth Branagh/Jason Isaacs/Toby Jones/Mark Williams: 3.5 stars
Just like the first in the series, it is a very light-hearted movie. The ending gets grim, also like the previous film, but it is still very family-friendly. Kenneth Branagh is surprising perfect for an egotistic, blubbering buffoon of a wizard. Jason Isaacs is creepy and very suave as the evil Lucius Malfoy. And the chemistry between Mark Williams and Julie Walters (Arthur and Molly Wealsey) in this film and the other films is quite fantastic. The only major flaws are the music and Dobby, the house-elf. The music is disappointing, it being a rehash of the previous films music. And Dobby looks and sounds too childish and fake to be real. It imagined a house-elf much grittier and having not so quite a high of a voice. But again, it is a good movie, but not as good as SS.
Prisoner of Azkaban: Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, Emma Thompson, Julie Christie (brief cameo), and Michael Gambon: 5 stars
Michael Gambon takes over for beloved and deceased Richard Harris. He is good, in fact he is great, but he cannot compete with the memory of Richard Harris still ripe in our minds. But the cast has many great new additions. The new cast members are all fantastic and everyone is perfect for their respective roles. The movie is the best in the series. It is visually stunning, with the best visual effects, music, cinematography, acting, and story. It is emotional without it being too overbearing. Alfonso Cuaron did an amazing job at directing this film and I can only imagine what some of the other films would be like if he continued. Granted, it is not a 100% to 90% adaptation from the book, but it is still quite good.
Goblet of Fire…: Miranda Richardson/Brendan Gleeson/Ralph Fiennes/David Tennant: 2.5 stars
…or The Guide to Dating for Teenage Witches and Wizards. This is the worst film of the series. Here we are introduced to Emo-Harry and Emo-Ron. We get too much of the teenage-high-school drama then we do of the story and what is going on. And they both do this with ridiculous, long haired haircuts. What was the director thinking? The new actors are particularly good. David Tennant deserves much more attention than he has previously gotten. His character was underused which is really disappointing, considering how well he did. And people may disagree, but Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort was brilliant. It was one of the few things that Mike Newell (director) and the producers got right. One other problem was how mediocre the score was compared to John Williams’ magical (pardon the pun) score was. The normally gifted Patrick Doyle had big shoes to fill, much like Michael Gambon did, but did not meet up to the expectations.
Order of the Phoenix: Helena Bonham Carter/Imelda Staunton 4 stars
We still have Emo-Harry, but Ron is back to his normal loving self. Emma Watson continues to grow as an actress in this one (she always has done a good job). And the two new cast members are delightfully evil, more so for Helena. Well shot and well told, this movie did a good job at shortening the long book and keeping the major points in (however they still left out many other plot elements). And get ready for a tear jerking ending like the previous ones.
Half Blood Prince: Jim Broadbent/Helen McCroy 5 stars
We don’t see much of Helen McCroy, Narcissa Malfoy (Draco’s mother), but she is good and I wish I could see more of her work. Jim Broadbent was an interesting choice for the role of Horace Slughorn, but he did prove me wrong and did a good job. Helena Bonham Carter returns even better. This is the second best film of the series. Many elements of this movie could have brought it done, because there is not much at all in way of a story, but David Yates (director) does a good job at convincing you that there is stuff that is happening. The high school drama is back, but they handle it very well (which this is the way Mike Newell should have done for Goblet of Fire). The only major problem is Tom Felton. Here he could have shined very much, but he shows that he is the worst actor in the series (worse than Daniel). This movie is all about him and Snape, but his ability to act is this much : -
Continue on to read my review for harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
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