Harry Freaking Potter!0

Yes more Harry Potter articles. I think after this past week Warner Brothers should be giving sites like ours some promotional money. This is great advertising for their movie and lets face it, they can afford it. I was going to give a rundown on the series as a whole, but we are pretty well doing that in our current podcasts. Of course our version of the series is a lot more racist with way more references to rape, but that goes for most of our podcasts (Listen Here). So for this article I’m going to try to stay within the new and final Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Long title yes, but still far easier to say then The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Unfortunately it seems some what pointless to do a review of this movie because fans who are going to see it, have seen it already or will see it soon, and people who aren’t fans would be silly to think they would understand anything in the movie. Plus this film is breaking box office records all over the world including the US opening weekend held by the Dark Knight in 2008 and the Australian opening day record set by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King way back in 2003. Harry Potter this time round has the added bonus of 3D which helps to rake it in. Especially with the forty million it made from the midnight screenings alone. Internationally the film has by now past the half a billion dollar mark and it has been out for only a week. It really is a juggernaut that shows no sign of slowing. Fun fact, did you know that when you take into account the movies, books, games and merchandise the Harry Potter franchise is brought in 21 billion dollars since 1998. Just have a look a that number $21,000,000,000. Lot of zeros. There are countries in the world not worth that much.

Okay, okay, enough numbers and records. Is the movie any good I hear you ask. Of course it is, it’s HARRY FREAKING POTTER! What a stupid question to ask, what is wrong with you? It was a brilliant movie from beginning to end and a really nice way to close a franchise that has been going for ten years. It was so action packed I swear I was holding my breath for the last hour of the movie. The story is fantastic, wrapping up all the questions and character arcs nicely. The effects are superb keeping these movies at the pinnacle of film quality and technology. The actors we first met as young children have grown into notably fantastic performers, able to carry the giant production and be measured against their veteran costars. There were even moments I got emotionally choked up. It was everything I was hoping for and is one of those few movies that lived up to the hype that enveloped it.

Now as happy as Warner Bros must be with this film, they must also be a little depressed as well. After all there isn’t going to be another Harry Potter movie. To be honest I feel the same. After watching this film I can’t help but feel some what empty. That’s not to say that the movie is bad in anyway, in fact it’s one of my favorites this year. But I kind of feel like a kid on boxing day. You know that feeling you’d get after Christmas of “Oh, it’s finished. Now what.” It’s very bitter sweet. Everything in the story is finally wrapped up as I always wanted, but knowing that there will be no more, leaves me feeling a little melancholy. I remember the same sensation after the last Lord of the Rings film but this is much stronger. I’d say this is mainly because it has been a entire decade since there wasn’t another Harry Potter film on the way. Sad to think.

There really isn’t much else to say. If you like the Harry Potter movies at all, then this is a must see. If you haven’t gotten into these films or books then stay away until you seen the rest. Otherwise you won’t know what the hell is going on. But I implore you to give these films a chance. It has grown far beyond a simple children’s story and has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. They are literally this generations Star Wars and will no doubt penetrate the pop culture for generations to come. It really is a massive accomplishment to think that a film series spanning eight movies can not only retain such quality but actually improve over the years. It won’t be long now till Warner Bros executives will be groveling at J. K. Rowlings feet for her to write another.
See you next week.
Rowan