Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince Monday, Jul 27 2009 

4 stars and dvd and scifi/fantasy , , , , , , Humaira 10:17 am

I don’t normally watch movies at the cinema, but the one thing I will guaranteed is the Harry potter series. Apart from the fifth and 2nd film, I’ve watched them all in the cinema, and this is no exception.

Harry is growing up and has turned 16. After the events of the last book, Harry learns a lot more about Voldemort in this instalment and also finds love with an likely person. Ron and Hermione are also growing up, and Ron gets a girlfriend and grows up a bit more in this one.

Draco Malfoy comes into his own in the film, and I felt Tom Felton did more than just sneer in this film. He got a really meaty storyline that really changed the dynamic for his character and he showed some real depth in acting in this film.

I know a lot of people were upset about what was and wasn’t filmed, but to my mind, what was shown was amazing. Sure, I wish the last scene in the book had been shown, but the films are entirely separate of the books, which have more depth and detail.

Cinematically speaking, I loved the rich textures and use of colour to depict memories and evoke emotion. And my favourite has to be Luna’s colourful choices.

There’s also a lot more humour in this film, which I found great as its all going to get very serious and scary further on in the film. So, the humour showed that while these are dark times, people still need a laugh.

A fantastic offering and looking forward to the next one!

4 out of 5 stars.

Random fact: Dame Maggie Smith completed filming this film whilst undergoing radio-therapy as treatment for breast cancer.

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Monday, Jun 9 2008 

4 stars and dvd and scifi/fantasy , , , , , Humaira 7:44 pm

The latest outing of the wizard sees his experiences with the newly resurrected wizard dark lord, Voldemort suppressed by the Ministry of Magic, the governing body of the magical world. Whilst Harry faces opposition at every turn to prove he is right, a rebel group of students decide to form an Army to try and combat the Dark Threat. Harry also experiences his first kiss and a fight to save the ones he loves from the Dark Lord.

It took me this long to watch this movie, mainly because I hated the fifth book, but that’s a story for another post. It does try to be faithful to the book but it manages to make all the scenes that are action packed fantastic! The kids playing the young wizard have really improved acting wise and its nice to see them growing up in the films.

The stand out performances for me were Daniel Radcliffe who has improved leaps and bounds since the first film as well as Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Alan Rickman as always is fantastic as the Potions master, Snape and one of my favourite characters in the movie series. It also foreshadows some of the storylines they will no doubt explore in the 6th movie and it is probably the best after Goblet of Fire in the series!

Overall, a film well worth watching!

Random fact: J. K. Rowling (The book’s author) provided over 70 names for the Black family tree tapestry, complete with details of relations between each and every member, whose were to be scorched and so on.

4 stars out of 5.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2 Disc Special Edition) [2007]