Requested Review: Harry Potter Franchise

Since the first release of the Harry Potter novel on June 30th 1997, author J.K Rowling has created a world that both kids and adults enjoy.
Every time a new book was made, its popularity just grew and grew. Plans for films of the books really started as soon as the first book was published. Eventually a date of November 16th 2001 was announced for the release of the film of The Philosopher's Stone.
In 2000, there was almost a year long search to see who would play the three main characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Those roles were given to Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Ranging from 10-12 years old, these three probably had no realisation of how famous they will be.
After the release of The Philosopher's Stone on the big screen, the race was on keeping up with more releases of new books until in the summer of 2007, the final book The Deathly Hallows was published and it was just left for the movies to finish this epic fantasy adventure.
On July 7th 2011, the eighth and final movie was released and the Harry Potter franchise came to an end. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are now fully-fledged Hollywood A-listers and are now doing their own stuff and it is all because of these magical stories that jumped onto our cinema screens.

Here are my reviews of each film of the Harry Potter film series:

The Philosophers Stone - Harry Potter's journey into the wizarding world begins on his 11th birthday.
He begins to find out who he really is and encounters new friends and a few enemies.
It is a nice pleasant start to the franchise and definitely captures the essence and feel of the book. There is a great blend of action, adventure, fantasy and comedy and the pacing is perfectly fine for the whole family to watch.

Rating: 7/10

The Chamber Of Secrets - Harry and his friends are back for a second year at Hogwarts and a new evil is facing Mr. Potter and the entire school.
It is probably my least favorite as I felt they could have done better with it in terms of the darker elements involved. But there is still more than enough content to enjoy and still has a great family movie feel to it.

Rating: 7/10

The Prisoner Of Azkaban - New director Alfonso Cuaron completely revamps the feel and look of the world of Hogwarts.
It has a great gothic look to it which I feel was needed, but with it being my favorite book there was a lot I was disappointed about, and even felt angry and embarrassed at times.
So for me, a mixed bag.

Rating: 7/10

The Goblet Of Fire - Year four of Hogwarts and another new director in the form of Mike Newell.

This is my favorite of the eight. It portrays really well, the new characters are shown to be very interesting and the content and pacing is highly enjoyable. We also start to get a bit darker as an old evil rises.

Rating: 8/10

The Order Of The Phoenix - Does not mirror the book well, but as a film it is a great fast-paced fifth installment as we begin to see the beginnings of a huge battle between good and evil.
Once again, we see new and interesting characters and we begin to see the big picture of Harry Potter is meant for in the world of wizards. This also features my favourite moment of the entire franchise.

Rating: 8/10

The Half Blood Prince - Director David Yates' second Potter film makes one of the more uneventful books really enjoyable on film.
Even with it basically being seen as filler for the final chapter, there is a grwat amount of charm about it that somehow makes this one a bit of a stand-out from the others.
Also, I particularly enjoyed the level of darkness and scares.

Rating: 8/10

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 - The wizarding world is in the beginnings of a civil war and Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the run.
This film is all about the build-up to part 2 of the final installment, and I weirdly prefer it to the successor at times.
There are loads of great set-pieces and obviously new characters and we see new parts to the original characters as they become a lot more mature which is nice to see.

Rating: 8/10

The Death Hallows Part 2 - A brilliant action-packed romp of a finale. It is a thrilling finish to not just the Harry Potter saga but of the people playing all these wonderful characters and how they have grown up.

Everything from the performances to the visual effects and soundtrack really make sure they end with their best work.
It is definitely rare to find a long film series where it consistently delivers.

Rating: 8/10