| Harry Potter 3 - More magic and a look at the dark side | 2 comments |
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7 Jun 2004 @ 11:12, by Craig Lang
This weekend, Gwyn and I got a chance to go see the new Harry Potter movie. And it is fastastic.
We had heard that it has a bit different flavor to it, since there is a different director for this movie than the first two. And what we heard was right. This movie had a distinctly darker flavor to it - exploring the dark side a lot more than previous movies.
One of the first things we notice in the movie - and it's so in your face that no one could miss it, is the dark nature of Harry's relationship with his guardians. They are ugly, to say the least. And one thing we see is what happens when you piss off a wizard - which every fantasy about wizardry has said not to do. In the opening scenes of the movie, Harry snaps and turns on his guardians - who certainly deserve it. I had wondered when this was going to take place, and I still wonder how it fits into the rest of the themes of the series.
I now also wonder if J.K. Rowling is going to explore the idea of karma a little bit more - which so far, she has not seemed to delve into very much. I hven't read the Harry Potter series, so I don't know if in future books, this "magic out of school" will somehow come back to haunt Harry. But it definitely shows that even good-guys can dabble in the darker emotions. (and Like Darth Vader, start down the path to the dark side - but I'm mixing genres...)
In this movie, we learn alot more about Harry's past, and some of the darkness and betrayal that led up to where he is today. It is a classic story of the conflict between good and evil, and shows just how easily the influence of evil can even corrupt the good-guys into revenge - making them do evil as well.
Rowling also does a great job of beginning to explore the limits of a wizard's power - "bad things happen to witches who meddle with time..." I don't want to go into too many more details - if you haven't seen the movie, go see it. It's great.
One thing that I noticed is that more than any other movie I've seen, this one really got me fascinated with witchcraft and wizardry. After seeing it, I wanted to go out and buy a "Witchcraft for Dummies" book, or something like that. I felt a strong desire to learn more about the core philosophy behind magic, alchemy, wizardry, etc. - preferably not from a book with teeth, however... :-)
My guess is that there is a lot of material on the culture of the magical that in the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling is just beginning to explore. It will be truly fascinating to see where she goes with the themes which she is developing...
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Category: Articles
2 comments
7 Jun 2004 @ 18:44 by jmarc : i haven't read any of them either
but the first two movies were good, so i hope to see this one too. Thanks for the quick review. Having lived with some horrendous "guardians" when i was young, i always felt for Harry, and it'll be some wicked fun to watch him get some revenge.
8 Jun 2004 @ 10:32 by craiglang : Thanx for the note
I never had that issue specifically, but I did have problems with bullies as I was growing up (I was the classic "omega" of the pack).
If you have ever read the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, you will recognize my childhood. So the idea of somehow acquiring magical or sci-fi-ish powers (such as psychokinesis, fire-starting, or shooting death rays from your eyes) that I could somehow use to blast the bullies... :-)
So the idea of (mis)using magic somehow has a wonderful appeal - and also buids up alot of karma that one needs to pay off later in (this or the some other) life.
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