The End of a Family Tradition (and a Movie Review)

My family has three traditions relating to Harry Potter: (1) I read each book aloud to the family upon publication; (2) we attended the midnight showing of each film upon its release; and (3) we bought each VHS/DVD as it went on sale. Obviously, the first tradition ended a few years ago. The second ended about a half hour ago. And, based on what I saw tonight, I'm hopeful that the third tradition will have ended with the purchase of the DVD for the second-to-last film in the series. The Deathly Hallows Part II is simply a terrible film; the worst in the series (with the possible exception of the fourth). It combined just about all of the worst features from all of the previous films, including stilted (or just plain bad) acting; unnecessary and inappropriate changes to the story line; absence of character development; and poor editing. Maggie Smith's performance was its only redeeming feature, and she was not in enough scenes to save the film. Instead of the  sense of loss I thought I would feel at the end of the film, I feel only relief that I will not have to sit through another Warner Brothers adulteration of Harry Potter.

The final installment in the Harry Potter film series confirms my oft-repeated assertion that the only way to do justice to the books is through a (possibly animated) mini-series on television, where the screenwriters, directors, and editors, have ample time and space to tell the story as J.K. Rowling originally and expansively told it in her wonderful books. I won't be holding my breath. Instead, I expect the next we'll see of Harry Potter is on Broadway in musical form. Perhaps an Andrew Lloyd Webber production?

Brief Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

It was, as expected, a wonderful night out for my family, along with a couple hundred others in the mostly teenage audience. Everything about the film marked it as different - the clothing, the locations, the coloring, the music and, for long stretches, the absence of any characters other than the three young heroes. They had to carry a lot more weight in this picture, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had the acting chops to pull it off. They are, in fact, much better actors now than they were not just at the beginning of the series, but even in the most recent episodes. (My kids agree with this assessment.)

The fact that the film makers decided to split the final book in the series into two films is a great boon because it gives them a certain luxury of time to allow the full story to unfold. I wish they had done likewise with the Goblet of Fire (at least), which was so truncated on the screen that virtually all exposition and character relations were sacrificed to what was, in the end, just a series of action scenes (with an inexplicably angry and voluble Dumbledore).

The Deathly Hallows, Part I is recommended to anyone who does not place themselves above and beyond the many charms of J.K. Rowling's books.

Harry Potter and the Curse of the Midnight Show

The Harry Potter series has spawned numerous Cyclingprof family traditions. As each book came out, I would read them aloud (complete with poorly-done characterizations) to the family. Then, on road trips we would listen to the audio versions of the books (the early ones on cassette, the later books on compact disc) read by the inimitable Jim Dale. We would go the midnight show to see each film on opening night. And, finally we would buy the DVDs and video games.

Tonight the tradition continues. My daughter is taking the bus up from Bloomington, my son will be taking a peremptory nap this afternoon, and my wife and I will be drinking lots of tea to help us stay away for tonight's midnight extravaganza. The actual quality of the film doesn't much matter to my brood (although I walked out on the film of the fourth book because I thought the portrayal of Dumbledore was too loud and the Director sacrificed everything else in the book for the action scenes).  The reviews from England of the new film have been mixed, but the several positive reviews have made me cautiously optimistic. I'll file my own review tomorrow.