Reviews

There is no doubt that the new entry in the Harry Potter series is well acted and well crafted. Even so, though, it is the worst in the series so far. The Ministry of Magic is growing concerned on Harry's claim that that the Dark Lord (Voldemort) is at full power again. They try to wart off Harry's claim by trying to get him expelled, but they end up failing to do so. So they decide to send one of their workers (Dolores Umbridge) to take a job at Hogwarts. When she arrives, she begins to take over the school and makes the students read about magic other than use magic. The students begin to fear that they won't learn how to protect themselves using magic and look up to Harry to help them learn to do so. So Harry and his friends begin to train the school secretly and everything begins to start off just fine, but Harry is having dreams about a room in the Ministry and begins to see terrible things (like Mr. Weasly being attacked by a snake). Then Dolores finds out that the students are learning magic without her approval. Once she finds out so, she takes over the school as head master and Ministry tries to take Dumbledore to Azkaban. Then Harry has another dream that his uncle (Sirius Black) is being attacked in a room at the Ministry by Voldemort who wants him to get something in the room. So, Harry's friend and him go to Ministry to confront Voldemort and find out whatever Voldemort wants. I don't think that the problem with the film is that it is too dark or that the characters seem more older, but that it skips some info from the book. The movie is too short (even though it is about one-hundred-thirty minutes long) and some viewers may not understand stuff in the movie if they have not read the book (even though they should have read the book). Overall though, it is a good movie and think fans will enjoy it. Overall: B

-Ben Russell

Note: This movie and the previous movie have been rated PG-13, but for the most part, the movies are like PG.

One thing that I really enjoy about the Harry Potter series is the fact that even though the movies are set up in a fantasy like world, the characters develop a sense of growing up. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the characters develop teenage habits and start become attracted to other people. Much like real people in our world. So even though the series is fantasy like, the audience still gets characters that they can relate to. The characters developing into adulthood is not only thing that develops in this movie. As suggested by it's "PG-13" rating, the movie is more dark, frightening, scary, and violent. I mean, maybe Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire isn't the worst "PG-13", but some smaller viewers might not be able to handle or understand the developments in this new entry. The movie opens with Harry having a bad dream in which an old man is murdered by a figure that is completely unrecognizable (his body is blocked by a chair anyway). Harry, Ron, and Hermione then continue a new year at Hogwarts were the Tri Wizard Tournaments are being held. The Tri Wizard Tournaments is were champion students from every magical school compete for the Tri Wizard cup. Only if a student is seventeen and is chosen from the Goblet of Fire, can they compete in the tournament. Oddly Harry is chosen from it and is made fun of by all the schools (and his) for cheating the Goblet of Fire. Even though Harry doesn't want to, he now must compete with the contestants Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum in dangerous events including dragons, a maze that closes from the end up, and weird fish like creatures (not so dangerous actually). However, as the Tri Wizard competition progresses, odd events happen that link in the end to Lord Voldemort's full return. For me, it wasn't the graphics or the plot or directing that made me so happy about this film. Like I said, the thing that made me most happy was that characters were so easy to relate to because they developed into what real teenagers would be like. Even look closely at the characters. Harry develops an attraction for a girl, Hermione develops into a beautiful young girl (attrating Viktor Krum), and Ron spawns a form of jealousy over Hermione. Maybe this may not be one of the most important key elements in the film, but I think it was pretty important. Overall: A-

-Ben Russell

Spider-Man was almost the perfect comic book movie and perhaps released at the best time. When audiences get bored with what genres normally cook up (mostly horror) we the viewers always look for the next best thing. For a while, horror movies were all the fad, but these movies can become boring extremely fast and Hollywood must find something completely opposite from horror to try and keep our attention. So, what might be completely opposite from horror? Well first, lets make a list of what is opposite from horror. Happy is one, action is another; good guys always winning might be another. So, what might be a good opposite for horror is a comic book movie. Now, a lot of money comes from what Hollywood had to offer for comic book movies. Some are failures (Electra) and others are hits. For the most part, most of them are hits. Spider-Man 2 is one of them. We begin with Peter Parker continuing his job as Spider-Man, but all is not well. Peter's friend, Harry Osborn, hates Spider-Man and wants him dead. Because of Peter's relation with taking photographs of Spider-Man, Harry has problems with Peter that only continue to grow worse as the movie goes on. The main villain of this movie is Dr. Otto Octavius who later becomes Dr. Ock. In a freak accident, he is connected to his invention of arms that are suppose to help him with an even bigger invention. His wife is killed in the process and the arms attached to him seem to have complete control of what he does. Deeply grieved, Dr. Ock runs away and hides, but not for long. He comes to terms with what he has become and starts his life as super villain. As usual, it is up to Spider-Man to save the day, but something is not right. Spider-Man seems to be losing his powers and has no control of what is happening to him. It is true that this film is better than the first entry, but only by a little bit. It seems though, that scene were Peter saves the people a train was little over it when everyone on the train discovers he is Spider-Man. Overall: A-

-Ben Russell

Spider-Man 3 is different from its previous sequels. More or less, some people will love this movie while others will not. It is a different Spider-Man movie, one maybe more darker and longer. This might be because Sam Raimi has the most control on what goes on in this movie and lets face it, Raimi specializes in horror movies. For directing Spider-Man, he does a pretty good job. For writing it, he might need some practice. Spider-Man movies are completely different than horror movies (like said in another review I wrote). I think some parts of Spider-Man 3 are memorable, but some are failures. The movie begins with Peter Parker finally having his alter ego Spider-Man being accepted. Peter's connection with Mary Jane is also going swimmingly and he is going to ask her to marry him. Just then, Peter is attacked by his friend Harry, who is trying to avenge his father. This conflict grows bigger as the movie goes on (but I'll get to that later). Meanwhile, a man, Flint Marko, has escaped prison and is trying to get money for his sick daughter. While on the run, he is mutated in a sand mixture and becomes the Sandman. With his sand like powers, attempts to steal money, and being the real killer of Peter's uncle, Peter cannot stop thinking about having revenge on the Sandman. Then suddenly, Peter wakes up with a new black Spider-Man outfit that is made from a substance that links itself to a host. This Spider-Man costume makes Peter darker and stronger. With it, he fights the Sandman and thinks to have killed him. Then things start to go wrong with M.J. and Peter. M.J. has lost her job and starts to think Peter isn't there for her. Eventually, she dumps him for Harry. Peter than becomes as dark as his feelings for revenge and hurts Harry, M.J., and Eddie Brock (a person who works for the Daily Bugle). Eddie seems to hate Peter more than the others and finds Peter trying to take his black spider man suit off in a church. The black substance from the suit falls on Eddie and he becomes the new Spider-Man villain Venom. In the end, Spider-Man 3 entertains us, buts lets us down with some bad dialogue and to many plots. It would be better that in the future, that if a Spider-Man 4 comes out, David Koepp or somebody from Spider-Man 2 should write it. The results of what people might think of this movie are split into three sides. Some will love it; some will find it different (me), and little will find it bad. So overall, this movie gets a B- from me.

-Ben Russell