Monday Morning Quarterback Part III
By BOP Staff
July 20, 2011
Joshua Pasch: For anecdotal purposes, I thought the world should know that I was apparently a child without a heart and no imagination for magic, as I gave up on book three when I was supposed to be JK's wheelhouse reader. Instead, my college roommate got me to give the series another chance at love when I was 21 years old. And love it I did. Here are my book ratings:
Sorcerer's Stone: A (for setting up the world) Chamber of Secrets: B+ (docked points for introducing Dobby) Azkaban: A- (for introducing werewolves. seriously, who saw that coming?) Goblet of Fire: B+ (docked points for being a book that feels elementary in scale compared to the others. a tournament? really, how could the stakes feel big enough?; wins back respectability for having maybe the best finale of all seven books). Order of the Phoenix: A+ (for introducing Umbridge, one of modern literature's most bad-ass villains. she is so evil)! Half-Blood Prince: A (props for keeping me guessing until the very end on who the half-blood prince is) Deathly Hallows: A- (comes as close as it could to giving something so momentous as the final comeuppance for Voldemort. those are high expectations to try satisfy).
As for the films, the grading is a bit harsher: Sorcerer's Stone: B (points for introducing a world that felt magical when I saw it 10 years ago and was a little kid; docked points for not holding up over 10 years). Chamber of Secrets: C+ (never feel any real excitement; this franchise needed a fresh director to add higher stakes moving forwards). Akzaban: B+ (ask and you shall receive; Cuaron provides a much needed change of tone for the series and while some of it didn't quite work for me - the freeze frame on Harry at the end of the film is unfortunately imprinted in my mind - this was still the first sign that the movies could grow up with the books). Goblet of Fire: B- (mostly docked points because the source material is also weak, but it fails to capture the chillingness of the Voldemort's re-birth in the graveyard). Phoenix: A+ (Yates takes over and nails the fifth entry better than I could've hoped; my favorite moment in the ENTIRE franchise remains Harry yelling to Dumbledore "Look at me!!!!" as he channels his inner dark side. Amazing stuff. First time I really got chills from the movies). Half-Blood Prince: A (Yates proves he's the friggin' man. His greatest accomplishment here was injecting comedy and hormones into the series with a deft touch. also he perfected the flying "raining ink" effect and uses is brilliantly in a climactic badle scene). Deathly Hallows 1: A- (this entry reminds me a LOT of the first Lord of the Rings flick with lots of aimless wondering. But I like the three main actors so much, I didn't mind it one bit. also wins respect for making Dobby awesome - previously believed by scientists to have been impossible to achieve).
Among the greatest franchises, I think this is just tough to judge at this point. My disappointment in rewatching the first two films recently means that I really need to give it AT LEAST ten years before I can judge this entire thing with some level of perspective.
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