REVIEW
Stone. It is, for me, completely
magical. It has that tone of an
old-school kids’ adventure film.
It’s like an Amblin movie,
essentially. There are a lot of
practical effects and I don’t
mind the kids’ performances.
Chris: It feels churlish to have
a pop at them for not being
terribly good.
Helen: Those three kids, let’s
give credit where it’s due. All of
them stayed sane. All of them
are good people. All of them
got better as actors. All of them
coped with the pressure of
carrying this franchise. That
in itself is pretty astonishing.
And Columbus gave that
sandbox to other directors.
Chris: Alfonso Cuarón
changed the rules with
Prisoner Of Azkaban. It’s
widely considered to be one
of the best, if not the best.Ben:I did a big rewatch last
year and have more distance
now to say that they’re really
good adaptations. It’s such
an epic fantasy story. It doesn’t
happen often on the big screen
that a world like that gets
to develop.
Helen: I quite liked the films.
I didn’t necessarily love them.
For the final film, Empire did
this supplement and we talked
to everybody. The other
directors all made a really
passionate case for the work
that Chris Columbus did on
the first two films, which
made me reassess those.
Chris: For me, apart from
a couple of the movies, they’re
not very sophisticated and what
the books have in spades,
literally and figuratively, is
magic, and a sense of magic.
Ben: I really like Philosopher’sChris:I remember my job
interview forEmpire. I was
asked what I thought of Harry
Potter. I was like, “Ugh, kids’
books.” Stupid. And I was told
I should have an open mind.
I was like, “Oh God, have I just
lost the Empire job?” I ran out,
chastened and humbled, and
bought Philosopher’s Stone.
I loved it and from that point
on I was a massive Potterphile,
counting down the days to each
book. But the movies have
never really connected with
me the way the books did.
Amy: I have never walked out
of the cinema disappointed with
a Harry Potter film. I look back
on Philosopher’s Stone and
Chamber Of Secrets and can see
the flaws — they’re a bit too
long, they cram too much stuff
in — but back then I was 10 so
didn’t really mind about that.
Harry Potter
movies
THE
RANKING
Four Empire writers.
Ten movies.
Ordered
definitively.OUR CRITICS
CHRIS HEWITT
Whisper it, but he prefers
the books. Ten points
for Slytherin!HELEN O’HARA
Veteran of three Harry Potter
sets. Commutes to work
on the Hogwarts Express.BEN TRAVIS
Dressed up as Dumbledore
when he was 10. We’ve
seen the pics. Adorable.AMY WEST
Would give all the Potter
films 9^3 / 4 out of 10. A bit
of a super-fan, really.