harry potter | the m0vie blog

New Irish Independent Column! On “Willow” and Disney’s Fantasy Pitch…

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Irish Independent this evening. With the release of Willow on Disney+ this week, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at what the show means for the Disney brand, and why it is so important to the company going forward.

The past couple of decades have seen an explosion in fantasy film and television: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones. However, studios have quickly discovered that audiences aren’t necessarily enthusiastically engaged with fantasy, struggling to connect with the genres. Studios like Disney have invested millions trying to tap into that audience, with numerous high-profile failures. Willow represents the latest attempt by Disney to craft a live action fantasy universe with a built-in fanbase, and the company is using the same playbook that it did with Star Wars.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: audiences, disney, fantasy, films, george lucas, harry potter, independent, irish independent, lord of the rings, Movies, streaming, willow | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “Fantastic Beasts” Fails to Capture the Magic of “Harry Potter”…

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at one of the more inert major franchises of the past decade or so.

The success of the Harry Potter movies made the extension of the franchise inevitable; and the intellectual property has expanded into theme parks and stage shows. However, the attempts to expand the world into feature films has met with frustrating results. So far, the Fantastic Beasts franchise has felt a little lifeless and inert, a blockbuster franchise driven by exposition and apocalyptic spectacle, rather than allowing the audience to really immerse themselves in the world as they did with the earlier stories.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: brand extension, fantastic beasts, franchise, harry potter, intellectual property, JK Rowling, wizarding world, wizards | 2 Comments »

New Escapist Column! On the Promise and Peril of “Dune: Part One”…

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. Last week, footage from the upcoming Dune adaptation was filmed for critics and press to build attention. One of the more interesting revelations from these screenings was that the movie apparently comes with subtitle Dune: Part One.

On one level, this is not really a surprise. It was been reported for years now that the upcoming adaptation would only cover a certain amount of the source novel. However, there is a certain boldness to including a “part one” subtitle on the cinematic release. In one sense, it harks back to the trend in the 2010s of splitting popular books into multi-part adaptations. However, it also suggests the blurring of boundaries between media, implying that this is really the first part of a two-part miniseries, where the production of a second part is contingent upon the commercial performance of the first.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: dune, dune: part one, films, harry potter, in the frame, Movies, the escapist, twilight | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On Young Adult Movies Operating Under Star Power…

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist earlier in the week. With the release of Shadow and Bone on Netflix last week, it seemed a good opportunity to take a look at the state of the young adult in modern Hollywood. in particular, the ways in which the genre is dependent on an ineffable star quality.

The young adult boom really kicked off with the Harry Potter series. However, not all the adaptations that followed succeeded. Looking back over the various attempts to tap into that market, it becomes clear that the series that triumphed tended to share one key factor: lead performers who had genuine movie star charisma and energy.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: harry potter, movie stars, netflix, shadow and bone, star power, sun summoner, the hunger games, twilight, Young Adult | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Fantastic Beasts – The Crimes of Grindelwald

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Darren

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald knows its audience.

The Crimes of Grindelwald is a film consciously aimed at the audience member who has charted and navigated the family trees of the Harry Potter franchise, who knows the finer details of families that were never explicitly featured in the original series and who can recognise names that were never spoken aloud. This is a film that is geared towards the kinds of fans who devour supporting material, who pour enthusiastically and endlessly over the appendices to The Lord of the Rings.

Law student.

This is not to mock or belittle those sorts of fans. Indeed, there is something infectious and exciting in that enthusiasm, in standing outside a cinema and hear enthusiastic six-year-olds with a much better grasp of the dynamics at play than the adults who accompanied them. The eagerness with which these fans pour over the finer details is genuinely heartening, and some of it might even be absorbed by osmosis as they boast about “when” they “got” some twist or other. This a movie aimed at those who devour scenes of exposition and love a good flashback or six.

The only issue is that The Crimes of Grindelwald has precious little for the more casual audience member, whether the casual cinema-goer who just wants a night full of wizards and witches or the more relaxed fan who has only watched the films or read the books once a few years ago. For those audience members, The Crimes of Grindelwald does not offer nearly enough. Or it offers too much.

Partially wanted for crimes against fashion.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: fantastic beasts, fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald, fascism, film, harry potter, J.K. Rowling, johnny depp, Movie, Narrative, non-review review, review, wizarding world | 11 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Darren

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a solid piece of popcorn entertainment.

It is, to be clear, just a little overstuffed. Its cast is so large that it borders on unwieldy. Its runtime is just a little bit bloated. It devotes far too much time and energy to setting up movies that will be released over the next couple of years. It is a surprisingly dark movie for a film that seems to set a whimsical tone. Its central metaphors get a little muddled. Its version of America feels like it has been stitched together by a collection of anthropologists who have access to well-worn copies of King Kong and Citizen Kane.

Suits you, sir!

Still, there is an undeniable charm to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a movie that luxuriates in the chance to explore a familiar universe through a different perspective. Given the success of the franchise in all media, it was inevitable that audiences would get “an American Harry Potter.” In fact, it could be argued that there have been any number of ill-fated attempts over the years including films like Mortal Instruments. If “an American Harry Potter” was to be inescapable, there are worse options than Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them never quite matches the height of its parent franchise, but occasionally manages to recapture some of the magic.

Wizzing around the world.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: fantastic beasts, fantastic beasts and where to find them, film, harry potter, Movie, non-review review, review | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Darren

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters demonstrates just how lucky the Harry Potter films were when it came to casting teenage performers. As a movie series centred around the off-spring of Greek deities, the movie relies on the charisma of its leads to sell the premise. Unfortunately, they aren’t quite up to the task. While none of the performers are terrible or wooden, the film drags to a hault when the teenage actors are asked to carry a scene. As a result, a quiet boat ride in the middle of the film seems interminable, and a heart-to-heart before the climax feels overlong.

None of the cast are assisted by a script from Marc Guggenheim. Guggenheim is capable of a well-placed zinger, and the movie offers its fair share of wit, but everything about the movie feels pandering and simplistic, as if Guggenheim doesn’t trust his audience to pick up on the plot points if they aren’t painstakingly catalogued and repeatedly spelt out with cringe-worthy dialogue. Indeed, Guggenheim’s desire to slow everything down so he can repeatedly explain what’s going on only adds to the pacing issues caused by the weak leads.

It’s a shame, because the adult cast seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves, and there’s something quite charming about the idea of “demi-googling” as a means of retrieving information.

Another stab at a Percy Jackson film…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alexandra Daddario, Anthony Head, Brandon T. Jackson, film, harry potter, Jake Abel, Logan Lerman, monsters, Movie, nathan fillon, Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, review non-review review, Sea of Monsters, stanley tucci | 7 Comments »

Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (Review)

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Darren

You know when Amy and I first got married and we went travelling…

To Thailand?

More the entirety of space and time… in that Police Box.

– Rory and Brian Williams share some truths

There is a strange listlessness to the seventh season, despite its position on the cusp of the big anniversary year. In many ways, the seventh season feels awkwardly positioned between the “timey wimey” ambitiousness of the sixth season and the “new beginning” aesthetic of the eighth season. The fact that the seventh season is split in half doesn’t help matters; it feels like an epilogue to the story of Amy and Rory, and a prologue to the story of Clara. It feels very much like a “light” year, which is a strange way to head into a big anniversary celebration.

There is a curious sense of idleness to all this. There is, for example, no clear story that links both halves of the season – Jenna-Louise Coleman’s role in Asylum of the Daleks notwithstanding. The seventh season has no real purpose beyond clearing out the ensemble and building towards the anniversary. As a result, it can feel more than a little rudderless and indulgent. Steven Moffat has described the “blockbuster” aesthetic of the year, and long stretches of the season feel like the show is just doing stuff because it can.

Gone to the birds?

Give Amy and Rory a five-episode coda? Sure, why not! Actually shoot a western in a country that could pass for the United States? Go for it! It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Ice Warriors, hasn’t it? Throw them in there! Neil Gaiman wants to write a Cyberman episode? Ah, go on! Develop those quirky supporting characters from A Good Man Goes to War into a part of the show’s ensemble in Victorian London? It just makes sense! Richard E. Grant as a villain from two Second Doctor stories? We’d be crazy not to!

There is a sense that the seventh season is a victory lap for the show and many involved in the production. Deservedly so. What is the point of an anniversary year if you can’t go a little wild? That is the kind of thinking that leads to Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, a simple “because we can!” story. After all, one of the stock cringe-inducing Doctor Who images is the dinosaur special effects from Invasion of the Dinosaurs. What’s the point in turning the show into a hit if you can’t take an episode to prove how far your dinosaur effects have come in four decades?

Locking horns…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: amy, amy pond, bbc, Brian Williams, Chris Chibnall, Dalek, David Bradley, doctor, doctor who, harry potter, league of extraordinary gentlemen, Nefertiti, Police, Pond, Riddell, rory, rory williams, Rupert Graves, Thailand | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: The Woman in Black

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Darren

The Woman in Black is a stately, old-fashioned horror film – the kind of Victorian era ghost story that I honestly feared had vanished from the multiplex. James Watkins’ adaptation of Susie Hill’s cult 1983 horror novel revels in the classic horror conventions, complete with jump scares, a stylish atmosphere and a hyperactive orchestral string section. It’s very much a loving resurrection of the type of classy conventional scary movies that have been replaced by serial killer or found footage films. There are moments when the movie might stick a little bit too close to that classic formula, and it feels a little brisk in the middle, but it’s a hugely enjoyable and thrilling experience.

Potter at the gates at dawn?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Lee, daniel radcliffe, film, Hammer Film Productions, harry potter, Horror fiction, Horror film, James Watkins, Movie, non-review review, Peter Cushing, Radcliffe, review, the woman in black, Victorian era, Woman in Black | 7 Comments »

The Doctor Is In? Is Doctor Who “Too British” For American Audiences?

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Darren

Well, it’s been about a week since the news broke that David Yates would be directing the new Doctor Who movie, being produced by the BBC, aimed at American audiences. Perhaps Steven Moffat’s rumoured commentary was perfectly apt: it seems that neither the director nor the studio have any idea what exactly they are planning, and the announcement might have been more than a little preemptive. There’s a lot of chatter out there about what this means for the television show, which is rumoured to be running severely over-budget and under pressure from the BBC executives. Because, you know, it’s not like the show makes enough to justify its costs.

I don’t know if this means potential cancellation or a reboot after the fiftieth anniversary, or even if the show and the movie will run alongside in two distinct continuities (and people said Moffat’s “timey-wimey” plots were too complicated!). Being entirely honest, I’m not sure if Yates knows either. However, something does fascinate me about this. Bringing Yates on-board represents a vote of confidence, suggesting that Doctor Who could be somewhere in the region of “Harry Potter” success stateside.

I can’t help but wonder if Doctor Who is simply “too British” for mainstream American audiences, and if launching a movie franchise to appeal to the demographics will be able to keep the core of the character and the show, while courting North American movie-goers.