The distinguished J.K. Rowling Harry Potter books are a coming-of-age series that is portrayed through the lens of magic and mystery. While Harry Potter was a staple in most people’s childhoods, it was not for me. Growing up, I had only a mild interest in sci-fi and fantasy, let alone reading, so I never dabbled in the Harry Potter books. I still don’t plan on reading the series; however, I’ve spent the last eight days of my life watching each of the Harry Potter films in order. After long, sleepless nights and visions of Voldemort in my room, here are my thoughts after watching Harry Potter for the first time as a senior in high school.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is a great introduction to the series. This movie highlights the foundation of the story in such a way that it had my eyes glued to the screen for the entirety of the two hours and 32 minutes it was playing. The thrilling nature of Hogwarts, beginning with the flying letters, followed by the sorting hat, moving staircases, Quidditch and the introduction of Voldemort, made me feel as if I was there myself, flying on my own Nimbus 2000. The most interesting part of the movie was Harry Potter himself. Having had no prior knowledge surrounding Harry except for a virtual reality ride at Universal Studios Hogwarts, I wasn’t sure what Harry’s story truly was; however, the movie did a great job of displaying the complexities of his life to a first-time watcher. Starting with the fact that Harry Potter is a wizard, then tying in the truth about his scar and how Voldemort tried to kill him and his parents, is fascinating and well done.
Another factor of the movie I thoroughly enjoyed is the aspect of friendship. The bond formed between Harry, Ron, and Hermione expresses a sense of comfort. They always have each other’s backs, and whenever one of them gets in trouble, they all take the fall together. I never took myself for one to like fantasy, but I truly enjoyed every second of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is another great watch. The sequence of events that take place, beginning with the writing in blood on the walls, followed by Harry’s discovery of the journal and being further sucked into a past world at Hogwarts, where he witnesses Tom Riddle and Hagrid discussing the Chamber of Secrets, took my thoughts and expectations for a big turn. After watching the first half of the movie, I was convinced that Hagrid was not the man he appeared to be. However, once Harry put the pieces of the mystery together, taking in the aspect of how he could speak Parseltongue, using the different clues as to why students and teachers had been passed out but not dead, and finally asking the truth about Moaning Myrtle, I was on my toes. Who had opened the chamber if not Hagrid? Who was the heir of Slytherin?
It’s safe to say I was invested in the movie.
One scene that has stuck with me is when Harry uses the tooth of the Snake to stab the journal, and better yet, kill the memory of Tom Riddle, all while risking his own life to save Ginny and clear Hagrid’s name. The plot twist of how Tom Riddle was/is Lord Voldemort is super interesting. Overall, I enjoyed watching “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets;” however, I will say Dobby is unbearable, and I cannot stand him. He bothers me, and I didn’t see the point of his being introduced in this movie at all. Maybe later along in the series I will understand Dobbie’s character better, but as of now, he is annoying.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is my least favorite movie so far don’t get me wrong, the movie is still great, it just doesn’t intrigue me the way the first two movies did.
The introduction of Sirius Black, or I should say, when Harry first finds out about him on the night bus, honestly felt kind of random. Sirius is shown in The Daily Prophet as a most-wanted suspect and is framed as the “most dangerous man in the world,” but I couldn’t get a sense of who he was and his relevance until his character actually came on screen.
Once Sirius, Professor Lupin and Professor Snape reveal that Sirius was framed as a murderer, and Peter Pettigrew was actually responsible for the killings, the story starts to come together.
However, there was a lot of mixed action in this movie, switching from the Whomping Willow to Hermione’s time-turner, and then the discovery of Sirius being Harry’s godfather, making it a lot to take in at once. All in all, I did enjoy the sequence of this movie once I was able to connect the different events, but it did not stand out to me like the first two.
