Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Any of the Harry Potter movies could easily be considered one of my favorite movies of all time. I don't know what it is about the series or the concept or what, but I love the wizards, witches, spells, and "the flying and the magic" (Old School reference). So now that the entire series of Harry Potter movies is over, I have to post my rankings from best to worst:

#8 - Chamber of Secrets
The Bad: There is nothing in this movie that *doesn't* drive me crazy. Touching on the obvious: Ron whines the entire time about spiders and barely contributes, I hate the side-story of Ron's possessed car, and Hermione is disabled half the movie from the Basilisk. On top of that, Gilderoy Lockhart is obnoxiously incompetent. It was also annoying that all the victims of the basilisk saw the snake's eyes through some mirror or reflection conveniently avoiding death. And if all those things weren't enough, the worst part was Tom Riddle narrating at the end. The first couple movies had this incessant need to narrate what happened to it's viewers, probably because it was targeting younger viewers. Watch the movie again and tell me it's not ridiculous though. Example: Tom Riddle: "Your Phoenix may have blinded the basilisk but it can still hear you." Thanks captain obvious.
The Good: In the context of the first two movies, I didn't understand the horcrux book or basilisk fang, but it all makes sense now which is awesome. I also liked how Lucious Malfoy planted the book on Ginny. Dobby and the phoenix save this movie, they were both rockin.

#7 - Order of the Phoenix
The Bad: I don't think I've ever hated anything more than Dolores Umbridge. It's really her giggle. My brain goes into a mini-fit of rage when I hear it. There is nothing she did in this movie that didn't drive me up the wall. She single-handedly brought this movie down to #7. Cornelius Fudge, for being the Minister of Magic, is frustratingly ignorant. It would have been a much better story to have him operating under the Imperio curse. But no, he's just the highest wizard in the world and a complete moron. I also was annoyed by Voldemort entering Harry's brain so often. He came off as a weakling.
The Good: Dumbledore was a rock star in the end, taking on Voldemort and making him go away. Luna Lovegood played a pretty big role in this movie and you can't help but love her innocence. Along that line, it was the first time when Ginny started coming off as a strong woman and Neville a confident, brave man, and that was refreshing. The fight in the end where Sirius died was pretty awesome, even though Sirius dies.

#6 - Deathly Hallows Part I
The Bad: Does it need to be said? Part I. You can't help but feel as though this movie ended unsatisfactorily. Also, who would enjoy seeing the hero of the movie, Dobby, killed in the end. Dobby was so innocent, noble, kind, and humble, and in the end he gets nothing but a knife to the chest. I hated that Ron got jealous of Harry and Hermione and went MIA for most of the movie.
The Good: The way Hermione narrated the story of the Deathly Hallows and the way it was explained was absolutely phenomenal, they couldn't have done better. I loved how they used non-magic ways, like walking and hiking to get from one place to another. And their constant spells to protect their location and ways they destroyed horcuxes was really cool too. But in the end, the best part of the movie was Dobby and him saving the day in the end.

#5 - Half Blood Prince
The Bad:  Dumbledore dying in the end was an expected downer for this one. You can't have this be at the top of the movie list and have Dumbledore die at the same time. Horace Slughorn is a weak man and I guess characters like that are needed around all the awesome ones, but they tend to get in the way.
The Good: It was like Batman & Robin the entire movie with the way Dumbledore and Harry worked together. Ron never gets the chance to be the hero and seeing him succeed at quidditch without any magical help was refreshing. I also loved the sexual tension between Ginny and Harry, they are growing up.

#4 - Prisoner of Azkaban
The Bad:  The entire series, Voldemort has wanted to kill Harry Potter and suddenly someone else who wants to kill him (on top of all the death eaters) is somehow a threat? Lupin has been a werewolf his entire life, how is it just now a problem that he turns into one? I thought the dude had medicine or magic to counteract it. And the whole wormtail-death situation (or lack thereof) bothered me. They have all the magic in the world and can't tell that wormtail never died and is instead still a rat? It was also annoying that Harry was portrayed as weak because of the Dementors.
The Good: Love the progression throughout the movie of Harry's expecto patronum. I tend to think that time-travel makes absolutely no sense in movies, but I really enjoyed how they tied it all together in this one. It was annoying how Hermione was MIA half the movie, but I liked finding out in the end what she was actually up to. Near the end, you see Harry saved by the image across the river sending an expecto patronum. He thought it was his Dad, but it was sweet how that turned out to be himself. Hermione punched Malfoy in the face, boo yeah! And lastly, the use of the Marauder's Map was awesome.

#3 - Sorcerer's Stone
The Bad: They are still just new kids on the movie scene and the acting is pretty bad. I'd like to count the number of times Hagrid says "I shouldn't have told you that", as if he's our very own narrator throughout the movie. Were the challenges that were blocking access to the Sorcerer's Stone really that hard? For first years, sure. But they should have been simple for professors or older wizards. And once again Dumbledore had to take 10 minutes at the end of the movie and explain everything.
The Good: Have you noticed how amazing the music is in this movie? The music was so awesome, they continued using the same tracks all the way through movie #8. Phenomenal. That alone is enough for me. But this is what started it out. It was a great introduction to the series. This series is complicated enough, but they managed to show entire first movie with very few loose ends. "Yer a wizard, Harry". You had me at wizard.

#2 - Goblet of Fire
The Bad: What is with Harry's mullet? He needs a haircut badly.
The Good: There is almost nothing to dislike in this movie. From the beginning with the port key and the Quidditch World Cup, this movie was amazing. There isn't a guy in the world who saw this movie and wasn't slightly turned on by the entrance into the hall by the girls of Beauxbatons Academy. Krum, Delacour, and Diggory were formidable foes in the ridiculously awesome Triwizard Tournament and I loved the challenges that were given to them. The end wrapped up well too with Diggory dying and Harry barely escaping. Everything about this movie was awesome and it would be at the top of my list if it weren't for Part II.

#1 - Deathly Hallows Part II
The Bad: It's over.What was with the massive ogres in the fight outside Hogwartz? I don't recall reading that.
The Good: You can tell a movie is good when you never look at the time. This movie FLEW. It lived up to my expectations as well as it could have. Dobby was the hero in Part I and Neville Longbottom captured Part II. Has any character come as far as Neville? He was the meager and helpless "Why does it always happen to me" character in the first movie, and here he is standing tall in front of Voldemort to laugh in the face of the death eaters and destroying the last of the horcruxes. I loved how they took Snape from the most hated man in the world to Harry Potter's ace-in-the-hole within seconds. All the fighting was awesome and while I hate seeing characters die, they really killed off the right number of people in the end. And finally, I liked that they used the actual people in the 20 years later scene at the end. Ron and Draco make the best looking older people. Harry and Hermione just look like they are playing dress-up.

I can't wait until the last movie comes out on DVD so I can watch it over and over like I have all the others. Harry Potter may be looked at like a series just for kids, and that's fine. But to me it's one of the greatest stories ever constructed, from start to finish. This may sound dramatic, but I will cherish it forever.