The Boy Wizard and Me

I have a confession to make. I am not a big Harry Potter fan. Therefore, I have not read all 7 books (blasphemy!). I read the first two around the time The Sorcerer's Stone was released in theaters. I wasn't remotely interested in either of them. A movie (or book) like Harry Potter didn't have a place alongside my regular diet of movies like Aliens, Heavy Metal, and Akira. It wasn't until the theatrical release of The Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 that I was willing to give the boy wizard a second chance. Of my group of friends, I was the only one who didn't love Harry Potter, so even if I were to protest, I'd still end up seeing it at some point. After reading/watching the first two and not liking them, I was amazed at how unbiased I was going into the third film.

I loved it!

It was at that point I decided I would read the books after I watched the movies. So I read Prisoner of Azkaban later that week. I found a copy of Goblet of Fire at the thrift store, but sat on it until after I'd seen the movie. This method seemed to be working in my favor. Then Order of The Phoenix came out...and I freakin' hated it. I was so displeased with the movie, I lost all motivation to read the fifth book. Harry Potter was no longer welcome in my life. I stopped reading. I stopped caring.

Last night, I went into Half-Blood Prince feeling much like I did with Prisoner of Azkaban, scorned by the two prior installments yet having no sway or bias one way or the other. Guess what? I liked it! I was pleasantly surprised by the sixth chapter and can only hope the two-film Deathly Hollows will be of the same calibur. Sure, there are nitpickey things I can address, but there's no need to. It was easily my favorite "summer movie" this year and may have to make a repeat viewing soon (after the nutso crowds die down, of course). My only real complaint is of the franchise as a whole and that is that they aren't accommodating to viewers who haven't already read the books. Three and six are the only movies that stand alone as movies without requiring a reference manual by your side. A movie shouldn't require you to fill in the blanks with information not given to you within the film itself. The Lord of the Rings didn't have that problem, Potter! Learn from it.

So I've decided I'm picking up where I left off. I'm going to read Half-Blood Prince and maybe, just maybe, I'll do a complete 360 and actually read Deathly Hollows before the movie comes out. Wouldn't that be wild?

Note: You may have noticed this wasn't a review for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I do, however, have plenty to share about the film. So if you're interested, hit me up some time.