We all love the Harry Potter books and films. One of the things that is so great about them is that we all have our favorites and we all have our reasons for loving them. Here are my rankings for the Harry Potter film series.
1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Year 3)
As a movie: A+
As an adaptation: B-
Mexican director's Alfonso Cuaron's visually gorgeous film is the first one to introduce Harry, his friends and the audiences to a darker and gloomier magical world. This film is different not just from the first two but also from every other film in the series. Its visual style is fantastical and morbid at the same time. Not only is this film brilliantly made, but it's also the first time we get to see Harry, Ron and Hermione as semi-adults. Emma Thompson, David Thewliss and Gary Oldman are the fresh faces and they excellently portray their characters. My only problem with this film is that, while it stands on its own feet as a film, they cut out a lot of fun/informative scenes from the novel. But, considering how masterful PoA is, we don't really mind.
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Year 6)
As a movie: A
As an adaptation: B+
The problem with the HPB book is that J.K. Rowling fell so much in love with the concept of the Half-Blood Prince that she named her book after it, forgetting that it's the least important plot in the novel. Thus, when director David Yates didn't focus too much on it, it looks like he's cutting down a major story thread. If you can ignore that, the HPB film is exactly what we had been waiting for during the 2 years since HP5. It's the funniest in the series with a large amount of scenes about life at Hogwarts. It's romantic, scary and chose the right Voldemort memory (out of the several in the novel) to show us. Jim Broadbent as Slughorn was a genius casting choice and the rest of the cast (Radcliffe, Watson, Grint, Bonham-Carter and Felton especially) shine. Regarding the Weasley home fire--Yates just followed a major filmmaking rule: show, don't tell. And it's one of the best scenes in the entire film series.
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Year 5)
As a movie: A-
As an adaptation: B
This is probably the second-worst film in terms of book-to-movie but, like PoA, it is faithful to the spirit of the novel. The film is especially well-made by David Yates with a lovely theme about how the media can influence the public. Yates struck gold with the casting of Evanna Lynch, Helena Bonham-Carter and Imelda Staunton as Luna Lovegood, Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge respectively and these three women elevate the proceedings immensely. The climax is not as climactic as it should be. But Yates makes it up with some wonderful moments with Dumbledore's Army. And the main trio continue to shine with their acting abilities.
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Year 2)
As a movie: B+
As an adaptation: B
I'm not exactly sure why people consider this horribly underrated film to be the worst of the series. There is a definite sense of claustrophobic dread that coats the film and there are many good sequences that are fun or exciting or sometimes even scary. Who can forget that wonderful Polyjuice Potion or the part where Gilderoy Lockhart "fixes" Harry's broken arm? Sure, this film is still dripping in "awe-factor" like the first one but that seems to just be director Chris Columbus's style.
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Year 4)
As a movie: B
As an adaptation: A+
This movie is so faithful to the source novel, it's almost a fault. Director Mike Newell (incidentally the series' first British director) almost gives no hint to his directorial style as the film is lost in the book. It moves at a rapid pace and even makes the 2nd Task (my least favorite moment in the novels) semi-interesting. Casting Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter was a great idea, but the film underused her while Shirley Henderson shines as Moaning Myrtle. It's still a fun and exciting movie but it has a rather bland style (especially when compared to its predecessor, PoA.) Also, it's too bad the guy who played Cedric Diggory never became famous.
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Year 1)
As a movie: B-
As an adaptation: A-
This film is good thanks to all the nostalgia. It's the first one and all the kids are so cute. But the film itself is sloppy, childish and too in love with special effects. It's forgivable that Chris Columbus wanted the focus on the magic as Harry is being introduced to the magical world as well. However, it gets in the way of the plot. The film has some well-directed sequences (the zoo, the chess game, the hurricane of letters from Hogwarts) but others are just lazy and lifeless (the climax, the mirror of Erised). It seems like I hate this movie and I don't. It's still enjoyable. I just wish it had been done better considering the potential.
The thing with HP is that I'll watch any of them at any time. It's a rather strong series, where the good always outweighs the bad. And they seem to get better with time. I absolutely cannot wait to see what they do with HP7. The fact that there are two parts is very, very promising. Well, here's to waiting for November.
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