Silencio! Let us have a moment of silence for the end of a magical era of Harry Potter.

It was 14 years ago that the first Harry Potter book came out in June of 1997 (I was only 12!) and in November of 2001 the world was introduced to the actors that would make the characters come to life on the big screen. This was a disaster of epic proportions. I’m pretty sure someone pointed a wand at me and said, “Stupefy” because by the end of the first film I was speechless.

These young actors were new to the scene and apparently so was director Chris Columbus (also directed- Mrs. Doubtfire & Home Alone) because he obviously mangled the first two Potter films. Of course this was only the beginning and as time wore on the actors got a little better and the directors (yes, that’s plural) changed their approach to the films (AMEN!).

Part II of the final installment tried to remain true to the book, but like most books-made-into-movies this is incredibly difficult due to details that are hard to portray on the big screen. In the case of Part I & II, David Yates, director of the final four films, did a pretty good job of mixing the action and story development to bring this epic journey to a close.

Do I suggest that you see this movie in the theaters? Yes. Did I absolutely love the film? No. I was entertained, but the acting left a lot to be desired and Daniel Radcliffe’s pasty skin stood out like a lighthouse beacon on a clear night. LUMOS! I guess that made it easier for them to show how dirty he had to remain throughout the entire film???

Alright all you Muggles go and see this movie and celebrate the fact that Daniel Radcliffe has decided to stick with his theater career instead staying on the big screen (although I have to say kudos to the semi-rocking bod we get to see for like 3.5 seconds).

My final spell- Avada Kadevra!

Grade: A

 John’s Take…

This weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II broke the opening weekend box office record.  It raked in nearly $170M including almost $45M in the midnight shows late Thursday.  That’s not really surprising, but I bet there are people who made this movie their first venture into Harry Potter.  There’s gotta be, right?  I mean there were folks who saw Return of the King without knowing anything about The Lord of the Rings.  I have to have coffee with some of these people.  For science.  Their existence makes my head hurt.

Ten years ago(!!), my introduction to the Harry Potter universe came with the first movie.  I’d gone to check it out just to see what all the hub-bub was about.  Harry Potter was a cultural icon in an era that seems like ancient history today.  If you remember, the anti-Potter books at Christian bookstores were more numerous than Bibles.  When the Church demonizes something, you know it’s a big deal.  Just like Footloose.

Kristi mentioned how terrible the first movies were.  She’s wrong, of course, because they were only terrible to those who had read the books.  The Prisoner of Azkaban was the one that hooked me.  When re-watching them prior to this last release, Azkaban was, indeed, the worst of the bunch so I’m not sure what appealed to me.  It was probably Gary Oldman.  That dude is awesome.

Like I mentioned, I decided not to read the books.  I wanted to see if the films could do the story justice despite removing large chunks of it.  My book-reading friends would routinely ask how I could possibly know what was going on.  In the later movies, it definitely got more challenging.  Of course, 18 months between viewings didn’t help.  Things were more clear watching them all back to back.

It’s amazing in this internet age, that I went into Harry Potter 7.2 without having the ending spoiled for me.  A story that had lasted ten years of my life was coming to a close and I didn’t know what to expect.  Those that knew the ending (like my cohort) seemed disappointed in the movie, but for me, it was fantastic – almost perfect.  Things moved quickly, but everything reached a conclusion that satisfied ten years of wait.  What more could I have wanted?

I take a romantic view of this movie.  Even if it could exist on its own (it doesn’t), it would bear ten years of emotion and life on its shoulders.  In my theater, someone was sobbing for the last third of the movie.  One friend used it as a decade of reflection blog post.  Most everyone has happy Harry Potter memories.  It’s a good story with good themes and there’s just not enough of those.

I’ll probably have to read the books eventually.  But for now, I’m happy to close this decade of life and await the next big thing.

Grade: A+