ive never read the books, but I've seen all the movies. I kind of felt like the last few movies were dark, slow, dreary, boring and depressing. Didn't mind them, but I didn't feel the need to see them a second time.
Saw the last one on Friday. Wasn't thrilled with it. Kinda bored by it. Still felt it was dark, dreary and kinda depressing. It was nice to wrap it up and finally see Voldermort vs Harry, but I felt the final sequence was a little odd and anti-climactic. It got great reviews, but I'm not really sure why. Pretty overrated if you ask me. In general I wasn't impressed.
The thing is... I actually did enjoy the first few movies. I'm not sure at what point the series turned into the "dark" territory, but I'm not really a fan of it. I think Harry Potter was far more appealing when the characters were kids, everything was full of magic and wonder, people weren't dying all over the place and it just had a fun whimsical christmas feel to it. I blame the writing... trying to make it "mature" for her audience as they grew up. Personally I think the "boarding school for British Wizards" worked a heck of a lot better as a fun children's movie than as uber-serious drama.
I think if you find someone who has never seen the previous movies, give them a short explanation of the character's backstory and then make them watch the final movie... they would think the movie was pretty weak. I think the great ratings are based on everyone's attachment to the characters.
Maybe I'm in the minority. Those raving about how great it was... maybe step back from it for a second and ask yourself whether you had more fun seeing the kids going on adventures, entering quidditch matches, learning magic, eating chocolate frogs and sneaking around the school.... or if you had more fun watching the school blow up, Harry brooding around and a bunch of wizards killing each other? Meh
Actually, HP had "darkness" to it from the very beginning ... both the books and the movies. The Sorcerer's Stone intended to bring Voldemort back to life, instead of being half-alive, and possessing/sharing the body of Prof. Quirrell, living off unicorn blood, etc. ... pretty dark, and they just got increasingly dark from there.
As she continued writing books, and the movies got produced, her original target group were growing up with the series, and she felt the themes needed to "grow up" as well. Her audience grew increasingly larger, (as it began to appeal to older age groups), and more mature, and that was her intent from the beginning.
I wanted nothing to do with it when it first came out, because I thought it was intended for children only. However, I got hooked after my daughter convinced me to read the first book, and I loved the characters, Rowling's writing style, the movies and actors, and loved how it was finally tied together, (which is something very difficult to do over seven lengthy books/eight movies).
Personally, I don't need to step back and analyze why I like it, or whether it's increasing "darkness" was good for the series or not ... it worked, extremely well, and I enjoyed it ... that's all the conclusion I really need to come to. I try not to over-analyze movies anymore, and just take them in for their entertainment value ... how much I enjoy them.
It is certainly pretty crucial with this particular series to know the characters and have followed them fairly closely, otherwise much of it will mean very little. Neither the books nor the movies were intended to stand alone, and a minimum knowledge of the background plot and characters is pretty important.
I think most of us who are "raving" about how great it was, are intelligent enough to say so without needing to step back and make comparisons to the earlier films. This was an excellent movie, a great adaptation, fantastic screenplay, casting, acting, direction, superb sound and special effects, emotional, impactful, and, for Harry Potter fans, an excellent tying together of the previous seven books and eight films.
The fact that it set both opening night and opening weekend records, is a testament to the sheer enjoyability this series has brought to many of us, and while it is certainly not for everyone, it was far beyond just a need to follow the characters. It was an epic series that was enjoyable, impactful, and fun, and the final film both stuck very closely to the second half of the book, and tied the loose ends together in a wonderfully whimsical but powerful way.
There will be many Oscar nominations for this film, and not just for an attachment to the characters. Could she have made it successful if she had kept it on the slightly more innocent level of the first books/movies? Possibly, but I highly doubt it. It had very dark undertones from the beginning, and as Harry matured, (and her original audience), the storyline pretty much had to as well.
Time will tell how it stands up over a longer period, but there is no questioning that it is one of the most successful and, (to it's fans), enjoyable literary series of all time. I think similar can now be said for the movies as well. But like anything else, it's not for everyone.