Harry Potter

Well, I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie last night. I was impressed - this is a good movie. It's definitely the best one of the series so far.

Since I haven't actually read any of the books, I didn't know what to expect from this movie. I've managed to get all the way through the series so far without getting hold of any of the books, and that's probably not going to change. After seeing the first couple of movies, I decided that they really were just books for kids. While the movies were fun, I couldn't see any point in reading the books then. But as the series has gone on and Harry & co. are growing up, it's getting more interesting.

The story was mainly responsible for that, I think, but the acting is getting better too. The story is more complicated, darker, and more mature than the earlier ones. The kids are growing up and becoming better actors (except for the guy who plays Draco Malfoy - didn't think he was much good at all, but since he only had a few lines in this movie it wasn't a problem).

The main characters have developed quite a lot through the series, which is great. Hermione in particular has become a much more rounded character.

And Harry learnt some important lessons in this story, too. In the previous stories, it's all up to Harry to save the day. The kids are the heroes while the adults and everyone else stands around looking helpless. This time, the kids all work hard, try their best, but in the end they can't do it all on their own. They need the backup of the adults/teachers to survive and win. There's a very impressive magical battle at the climax of the movie, which shows the kids being out of their depth and lucky to survive. That's one of the things that annoyed me about the earlier stories - Harry won almost too easily. Sure, he was lucky, too, but he seemed to win just because he was Harry. This movie isn't like that. He wins not just because he's Harry, but because he has people like the Order backing him up.

He also learns more about his parents - in particular he learns that his parents aren't perfect. He's always idolised them (natural enough) but this time, when he gets to see some of Professor Snapes' memories, he learns a few things about his dad that I think shocked him a bit. That's a tough lesson for anyone to learn - that the people they idolise aren't perfect. But it does make them more human.

I think the movie was technically really good, too. All of them have been good in that respect, though. The sets, scenery, effects - I guess they've got plenty of money to spend getting it right, though, so they should be good. It certainly gives the film the right atmosphere to make the story work.

Anyway, I thought it was the best Harry Potter movie so far. Definitely worth seeing. I hope they can keep it up with the remaining movies...