Harry Potter Film Series: Mini Reviews

HarryPotter and The Sorcerer's

Stone

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone) Philosopher's Stone is a legendary magical stone, which helps to create 'Elixir of Life' which can make humans immortal. So, Here in this part Voldemort wants to steal that stand in order to gain immortality which is saved by Harry.
Harry's Task	This is the first part of the Harry Potter series where the Task of Harry and his friends is to reach the Philosopher's Stone before Voldemort reaches there. Harry supposed that Snape is helping Voldemort to gain his Physical Form back by stealing Stone. But Harry's information gets falsified at the end. It is not Severus Snape but He is Quirinus Quirrell, Professor of Defence against the Dark Arts who wants to steal that stone.
Presence of Voldemort	Throughout the movie we aren't able to realize in which form Voldemort presents here. But at the end we came to know that Voldemort was present here in the head of Professor Quirinus Quirrell. And Professor Quirrell is following Lord Voldemort's orders.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	Here we find Professor Quirinus Quirrell as a temporary horcrux whose turban is occupied by Voldemort. At some point of time we find that Quirrel tries to resist against Voldemort but always fails due to controls of Voldemort on Quirrel. And the soul Voldemort, which resides in Squirrel's  body, is forced to drink the blood of the Unicorn and kill Harry Potter as well. But at the end Harry Potter burns Squirrel's body due to protection given to him by his mother. And the soul of Voldemort flies away which is not completely destroyed here.
Moral of the Story	Fame isn't Everything. (Severus Snape) “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” (Albus Dumbledore) “There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it.” (Professor Quirrell)
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	The character of Hermione in the very first part is shown as a very strong character. Who is the most intellectual witch of her age group. Who has the capacity to grab things more quickly then her friends. But her intellect was only limited to bookish knowledge. She remains totally absent or we can say fails when coming down to sports activities or any other work where strength is required. So, This point can be considered for Feministic reading of Hermione's character. The word 'witch' used for female magicians can be read as having negative connotations.
Important Themes	Theme of Love: Harry's body has a protection of her mother's love,who sacrifices her life in order to save her son. So, Love can be seen as the central theme. Where Love is the outcome of sacrifice.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Chamber of Secrets is a secret chamber created by Salazar Slytherin in Hogwarts. That Chamber is a home of monster Basilisk and they are working on purging out all mudbloods. Chamber of Secrets also contains the Diary of Tom Riddle which is one of Horcrux destroyed by Harry at the end of the second book. So, The Title 'Chamber of Secret' became significant here for the second part.
Harry's Task	Harry's task was to find out who has opened the chamber of secrets now and who has opened it before 50 years.  To find gateway of chamber of secrets and to save Ginny from being petrified by Tom Riddle is another task of Harry in The Chamber of Secrets
Presence of Voldemort	Here, In this part Voldemort's one horcrux is present in the form of Tom Riddle's Diary, In which a part of Voldemort's soul is hidden.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	Harry at the end learns that the Diary of Tom Riddle is something which manipulates Ginny Weasley to open the chamber of secrets and destroying this Diary helps to save Ginny from petrification. So, At the end Harry destroys that Diary by stabbing Basilisk's one fang.
Moral of the Story	"Fame is fickle. Celebrity is as celebrity does" - Gilderoy Lockhart - Prof of Defence against Dark Arts. "Help will be given to those who ask for it" - Dumbledore. "Loyalty helps" - Phoenix 'Fawkes' comes to help Harry as he is loyal to Dumbledore.
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	Hermione's character here can be read as Caretaker which is more of feminine notion. At some point of time she became path creator or vision for two major male characters but still some stereotypical representation of Hermione like reading in Library gives an open access to do Feministic reading of the stsh Character os Ginny also became here interesting character to read it from Feministic Perspective. Misogynistic nature of the patriarchal world towards women highlighted here in the statement of Tom Riddle, which shows a woman who always creates struggles… "Damage a silly little book can do especially  in the hands of silly little girls." So, The above statement shows the stereotypical notion that women should not be allowed to educate because it creates more problems in the lives of man dominated society. Introduction of the ghost of Moaning Myrtle who died in the Girls washroom at Hogwarts who was portrayed more as a Womanish Character. In every silly situation she starts wailing and screaming.  Character os Moaning Mattle can be seen to study how  Gender roles are performed by women in society which are constructed by Male Dominated World. Moaning Myrtle is an Imaginative Character and she is dead now but still even in the imagination woman can't forget to perform their roles. This shows how Woman's Imagination is Gendered and Fractured by society from childhood.
Important Themes	Choice: In this part choice can be considered as the central theme, which can be understood through Existentialism. Because within this choicelessness we have to make certain choices. Dumbledore also says... "It is not our abilities, it is our choices that makes us what we are" . (Dumbledore to Harry) Intolerance can lead towards Chaotic Society:  Voldemort has an opinion that mudblood or half-blood wizards or witches should be wiped out from Hogwarts because they have no magical inheritage so they cannot become good wizards or witches. So, Voldemort's intolerance towards accepting all wizards either they are mudblood or half-blood leads towards a war in the end.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Prisoners of Azkaban Sirius Black is one of the Prisoners of Azkaban who ran away from prison. And according to rumours his intention is to kill Harry but at the end he turned out as a Godfather of Harry Potter. So, This means Sirius Black's escape from the prison of Azkaban here entitled The Prisoner of Azkaban.
Harry's Task	As it is commonly believed by most of the people that Sirius Black is a supporter of Lord Voldemort. And In this part Sirius Black ran away from Azkaban prison in order to kill Harry, is supposed point of view. So, Harry's task became to save his life from Sirius Black. But Harry learns at the end that Sirius Black is innocent who hasn't betrayed his parents. And Harry has to prove his innocence. In the last part of the movie Harry's task became to save more than one innocent life with the use of Time Turner. Which is excellently done by Harry and Hermione and they save three lives which are of Buckbeak, Professor Lupin and Sirius Black.
Presence of Voldemort	Voldemort is not directly or physically present in this particular part.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	Any Horcrux of Voldemort soul is not present in this particular part.
Moral of the Story	"Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if we remember to turn on the light" - Dumbledore. "A child's voice, however, true, is meaningless to those who have stopped listening" - Dumbledore. "It is wisest to retrace steps (go back, go back in memory, check your steps, observe your past actions), when in doubt" - Dumbledore
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	This part became very interesting for Feministic Readers because in this particular part Hermione Granger came out as a strong character who became a guiding light for Harry. Hermione is at centre and almost controller of Narrative and also leading Harry's character on the right path. She understands things more quickly than Harry. She used Time Turner to heal the acts done in the past. She knows everything about remaining careful and extra cautious while using Time Turner. She also tries to convince Harry that it is not his father, but it's he who Charm Patronus spells and saves Sirius Black.
Important Themes	Personal Anxiety: Boggarts are creatures which are shapeless and it turns into things or creatures from which you fear the most. So 'our pain becomes their power.' So, Boggarts in this particular part represents human inner anxieties or fear Conflict between Good and Evil:  This part became more darker to previous parts  BecauseHarry's evil self is trying to came out.  "I hope he find me, when he does I am gonna kill him"  Self-helpSelf-Trust or Self-confidence "No divine, no dead ones, no loved ones comes to save us. It is we who save us"

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire The Goblet of Fire is a cup which is considered as an ''impartial judge '' of the Triwizard Tournament. Which chooses the name of students to compete in the Championship. Triwizard Cup chooses the name of Harry Potter even though his name is not given by Harry himself. It was Barty Crouch Junior who gave Harry's name for the Triwizard Tournament so Harry could become rich to Voldemort. So, the Goblet of Fire became the center of everything.
Harry's Task	Goblet of Fire chooses Harry's name for the Triwizard Championship. And in this situation along with his competitors Harry has to complete three tasks… # Save golden egg from Dragon # Save friend from beneath the Black Lack # Finally, Find a cup in Maze
Presence of Voldemort	Initially Voldemort appears in this part in the dream sequence of Harry Potter. And secondly this part became important because Voldemort regained his physical body with the help of Harry Potter's Blood… "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son! Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." (Wormtail)
Moral of the Story	Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is RIGHT and what is easy. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	If we see this part from Feministic Perspective then it's reading became more interesting. In this particular part children's story is moving towards teenager literature which is captured by showing Love interest, importance of Body and Beauty, Jealousy and fighting between boys for one Girl. Objectification of women's body color is clearly visible where most of the fair skinned girls are taken by boys for Yule Ball party and Black and brown skinned remains at the end. With the growth of character gender consciousness is also slowly and steadily  poured into teenager's minds by narrating their different roles. Before the Yule Ball party professor McGonagall gave one speech in which she said… "Inside every girl,  a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside every boy a lordly lion prepared to prance." So, Above statement clearly makes a distinction between gender roles to be performed in society. Where a girl should have fair skin like a swan has the desire to fly in the sky while a macho-image of a boy is presented through the use of lions as symbols. The way Rita Skeeter presented here as a reporter who is more interested in juicy news and more on the side of spreading rumors and sensational news of love affairs shows an Archetypal representation of a woman character who is more interested in spreading rumours and doing chit chat. So, stereotypical representations of women are clearly visible here. Another female characters like Patil sisters from India and Cho from China are introduced here
Important Themes	Absolutism: Absolutism is a kind of Political doctrine where the ruling power has complete control over people and the system.  Here in the Harry Potter movie at Hogwarts Ministry of magic says that  Rules are Absolute The student who is chosen by Goblet of Fire must take part in the Triwizard Championship. So, Harry Potter is forced to take part in this tournament though his name was not given by him or he is also younger than his competitors.

Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix Order of Phoenix is a secret organization created by Dumbledore and His Army. Who believes that Voldemort is back, which is denied fact for some time by the Ministry of Magic. This organisation created by Albus Dumbledore fight against Voldemort and his followers Death Eaters
Harry's Task	In this particular part Harry's main task is to rescue Sirius Black. But at the end is unable to do that and Sirius Black is murdered by one Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange. As a new professor Dolores Umbridgd had created new rules which refused to teach practical knowledge of how to use Defensive magic. Harry and his friends create one Defence Group which they named as Dumbledore's Army. They gathered in the Room of Requirement and learned defensive magic from Harry. So, This also became part of Harry's task.
Presence of Voldemort	Voldemort is present here as physically as well in the dream sequence of Harry in the form of snake Nagina. Harry and his friends fly at the Ministry on Thestral in order to rescue Sirius Black where they are attacked by Death Eaters. At the end Voldemort arrives there to kill Harry. Voldemort tries to possess Harry but he is saved by Dumbledore and Harry also gets his consciousness over Voldemort's possession. Arrival minister Cornelius Fudge forces Voldemort to escape from there.
Moral of the Story	Fear makes us do terrible things. Working hard is important. But there’s something that matters even more. Believing in yourself. (All wizards need to believe in themselves to make spell work and that's true of all humans.) It does not matter whether we are good or bad. All are good as well as bad.  "What matters is what we choose to act on." Things we lose have a way of coming back to us.
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	Hermione to some extent played a very important role and came out as an intelligent witch whose memory strikes at a perfect moment. She gave idea of teach defence art to students secretly in Room of Requirement Introduction of Dolores Umbridge, a new professor of Defence against the Dark Arts, portrayed as Regressive Reformists. Can be seen as a stereotypical woman character who believes in the past. And I think going back to the past is good. She adopts masculine style of Communication to control students and the whole Hogwarts school. Character of Dolores Umbridge can be read from Feministic Perspective where women characters are puppet of power and portrayed as villain.
Important Themes	Satire on Judicial System Use of Conspiracy and sedition to subdue the voice who spoke against power Use of Media or Newspaper (Daily Prophet) to harass powerless people Interference of Power into Education System Attacking Regressive Reformists in Education System "Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged"  Preserving Past  "If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you"(Nietzsche)

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince Harry is in search of Half-blood Prince as it is written on the book of potion that 'this book belongs to Half-Blood Prince. At the end Severus Snape reveals that He is the Half-Blood blood Prince because his Mother Eileen Prince is a pure blood wizard and his father Tobias Snape is a Muggle born compiled Snape's identity as Half-blood Prince as Harry is also Half-Blood Prince.
Harry's Task	Harry's task is to find Who is Half-Blood Prince, a mysterious book on which Half-Blood Prince's name is written, Which forces him to find that this book belongs to whom. Another task of Harry is to retrieve Professor Horace Slughorn's memory as ordered by Albus Dumbledore. Through this Harry Potter is able to know crucial information regarding Horcruxes created by Voldemort in order to gain immortality.
Presence of Voldemort	Voldemort is physically present in this part.  Voldemort is also present in the memory of Horace Slughorn,  where as young Tom Riddle he is asking about how to create Horcruxes to Professor Slughorn.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	'What is Horcrux?' is actually introduced in this part through the memory of Professor Slughorn.  Albus Dumbledore prepares Harry for upcoming challenges and both make their journey towards the seashore where they find the locket of Salazar Slytherin and another horcrux created by Lord Voldemort. It also introduce other two destroyed horcrux: One Tom Riddle's Diary destroyed by Harry Potter in Chamber of Secrets And Second, Marvolo Gaunt's ring which is destroyed by Albus Dumbledore.
Moral of the Story	There can be no light without dark. (Professor Slughorn) It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more. Those who are ashamed of memory, temper their memories. Memory is everything. Without memory we are blind. Without memory we leave the fate of our world to chance.
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	For Feministic study this part again became important where the girl's beauty is measured through their skin. Harry and Ron are discussing Ginny and Hermione's body. Ron Weasley: So what is it he sees in her? Harry Potter: I don't know! She's smart, funny, attractive... Ron Weasley: ...attractive? Harry Potter: You know, she's got nice skin. Ron Weasley: Skin? You're saying Dean's dating my sister because of her skin? Harry Potter: Well, no, I mean I just...I'm just saying it could be a contributing factor. Ron Weasley: long pause...Hermionie's got nice skin, don't you say, as skin goes I mean? Harry Potter: ...I've never really thought about it...but I suppose yeah, very nice. Harry Potter: even longer awkward pause...I think I'll be going to sleep now. Another point which became noteworthy for Feministic study is about rivalry between girls for a single boy. Which includes love interest, Jealousy and Envy for a partner. Hermione became Jealous when she saw a romantic relationship between Ron and Lavender Brown. So, Women Character became almost insignificant here and reduced to merely 'love objects'.
Important Themes	Self-sacrifice for Larger Good:  Like all traditional moral stories this part also gives a lesson of Self sacrifice. In this particular part Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter are doing self-sacrifice in order to save Hogwarts and people of Hogwarts from Voldemort's evil intention. Dumbledore drinks polyjuice potion to get Locket horcrux while Harry sacrifices his time and friends for a while to do a larger good. So, The theme of self-sacrifice reflected here more specifically through the character of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (Part 1 and 2) Deathly Hallows is a combination of three objects collectively they create a symbol of Deathly Hallows as suggested in a story. These three objects are… #The Elder Wand #The Resurrection Stone #The Invisible Cloak Owner of these three objects became immoral and got a victory over Death.
Harry's Task	Harry's task is to find Horcruxes and destroy it as suggested by Albus Dumbledore. In this part Harry finds out that the real horcrux locket is owned by Dolores Umbridge. In order to retrieve this locket this trio disguise themselves with the help of polyjuice potion and enter into the Ministry of magic to retrieve the locket. Harry and his friends are also in the search of the meaning of the symbol which Hermione finds in the book left for her by Albus Dumbledore. Xenophilius Lovegood gave more information about the symbol by naming it as Deathly Hallows.
Presence of Voldemort	Voldemort is physically present in this part where he is meeting with other his followers regarding how to kill Harry Potter. He wants to be master of Death and for that he is in search of the Elder Wand, which he believes will help him to kill Harry Potter. At the end we see that Voldemort finds Dumbledore's burial chamber and steals the Elder Wand from there.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	The real horcrux locket of Salazar Slytherin is at last found out by Harry and his friends from Dolores Umbridge. Which is destroyed by Ronald Weasley with help of the Sword of Gryffindor.
Moral of the Story	You have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide. (Pius Thicknesse) Evil breeds evil. Locket feels the beholder with negativity. Freedom is valuable (Dobby dies happily as friend rather than elf-slave)
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	Hermione is actively involved along with her two friends in search of Horcruxes. She gets clues from the book left by Dumbledore for her. She also helps Ron and Harry to understand the story of three brothers and Deathly Hallows. So, Intellectually Hermione's character is shown as powerful who has more knowledge than two of her male friends. But again we see less participation of Hermione at the events where physical strength has to be displayed. Hermione remains absent  When Ron and Harry are trying to destroy the Horcrux of Salazar Slytherin's locket. She is sleeping in a hut. This became important to read when we are seeing how women are portrayed in the situations when physical strength is required. Objectification of Hermione's body in the dream sequence of Ron Weasley also became important to see the archetype of femme fatal. She is also shown as a woman who became the reason to create walls between two male friends.
Important Themes	Importance of Friendship Throughout the Harry Potter Series the theme of friendship plays a vital role. Here in this part Dobby reminds us the importance of Friendship by his last words that... "Such a beautiful place, to be with friends.  Dobby is happy to be with his friends."

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2

Significance of Title	Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (Part 1 and 2) Deathly Hallows is a combination of three objects collectively they create a symbol of Deathly Hallows as suggested in a story. These three objects are… #The Elder Wand #The Resurrection Stone #The Invisible Cloak Owner of these three objects became immoral and got a victory over Death.
Harry's Task	Harry's Task in this last part is to find all the remaining Horcruxes, and destroy it. And the destruction of all Horcruxes automatically defeats Voldemort. And this is what the ultimate task of Harry is to destroy Voldemort along with evils.
Presence of Voldemort	The presence of Voldemort came time and again in this part. Here Voldemort is shown with Nagina which is the only Horcrux remaining to be destroyed. Harry faces death after confronting Voldemort who charms the killing curse on him. But Harry again came to consciousness after his meeting with Dumbledore and finally killed Voldemort.
Horcrux (Destroyed by)	The Horcrux of Hufflepuff's cup which Harry and his friends found at Gringotts Bank destroyed by Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets with Basilisk's fang. Another horcrux of Ravens Ravenclaw's Diadem found at Hogwarts destroyed by Harry Potter and kicked into fire by Ronald Weasley to be destroyed completely. Nagina is a horcrux which is destroyed by Neville Longbottom with the help of the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry himself is a last horcrux who is killed by Voldemort himself by a charming Killing curse.
Moral of the Story	Help will be given to those who deserve.  Do not pity the dead. Pity the living. And above all, those who live without love.  Quality of one’s convictions determine, not the followers.
Hermione's Role including Other female characters	Hermione Granger plays a very Significant role here. Her intellect helps them to come out from Gringotts wizarding Bank with the help of Dragon. She also destroys Helga Hufflepuff's cup with the help of Basilisk's fang in Chamber of Secrets. Other female characters like Professor McGonagall, Ginny Wesley, Luna Lovegood also play important roles in the fight against Voldemort's followers.
Important Themes	Death is Ultimate Reality Everyone has a fear of death. But the only way to gain victory over death is accepting death instead of making a fatal attempt to become immoral. This something which differentiate Harry from Voldemort. Voldemort wants to become immortal by creating Horcruxes while Harry accepts Death when he learns that he himself is one horcrux. And in order to destroy Voldemort he has to die. And in his way towards death he learns beautiful lessons like... Death is beautiful, not painful. This is one reason why he is capable enough to destroy Voldemort.  So, Death is the most celebrated theme throughout the Harry Potter Series. Confronting Reality through Fantasy If we put aside the layer of magic and fantastical elements presented in novels and movies then this Harry Potter Series can unfold as a story Real World representation of the story. And the dialogues presented in the movie itself shows that besides the magical world there is also a prevailing world of Reality. So, we are able to confront realities by reading the Harry Potter series. "Is this all real? Or is it just happening inside my head?  Of Course it is happening inside your head. Harry . Why should that mean that it's not real." So, Here Harry asks questions to Dumbledore during his near death experience where he meets Dumbledore at King's Cross Station. So, Dumbledore says It is happening inside your head but it can also be Reality at some extent. So, This statement blurs the very line between reality and fantasy.