Harry Potter Retrospective

The Harry Potter books have been one of my favorite works of literature during the last 10 or so years. Granted, I do not assess them as masterworks of the English language, but the entire saga took me on an emotional roller coaster like few other books have done so.

The same happened with the films. I will by no means call the entire saga a great cinematic master work. I will be the first to criticize the fact that the overall series lacks cohesiveness due to  unfortunate mitigating circumstances (4 different directors, 2 different screenwriters, multiple composers, etc.). However, for what it's worth, during the course of the past 7 (and next Friday 8 films), this series has enabled its loyal fans an opportunity that few other works of cinema have provided with such longetivity and effectiveness: the opportunity to watch it's three iconic actors grow into mature actors/people (though Radcliffe's recent ravings have brought doubts about whether he has matured as a person).

For me, the series, which started with a few missteps, really took off and improved film by film. This leaves me with the hope that the final film, which looks to be the biggest one, will also be the best. This is furthered by the fact that based on the content from the book, there is a substantial and uplifting emotional valley that this film will traverse. It should provide a cathartic close to what has truly been an unforgettable and most of the time fulfilling journey.

It is my plan to do a retrospective stating my feelings regarding each one of the films, leading up to Friday's release, at which point I will provide a lengthy review of the final film. I will begin tomorrow with the Sorcerer's Stone. Enjoy!