Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009 – ★★★½

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

Aaaand we’ve pretty much crossed the ‘Event Horizon’ of this series now. ‘Order of the Phoenix’ was the culmination of 3 films desperately trying to find its vibe and style after the exit of Chris Columbus from the franchise. It was refined, knew what it wanted to be, was lean and understood the characters. Yes; there were a few awkward performances here and there, and yes, in the grand overarching plot sense of things, it was kind of a filler story to slowly drip lore into the series ahead of the big wrapping up. But it was coherent, consistent and for the first time since ‘Philosophers Stone’ the series felt like it had found a new identity that sat comfortably with it, and a tone and vibe that didnt feel *too* forced.

Then, theres ‘Half Blood Prince’ an almost Cannibalisation of the last film into a kind of…self referential sludge for lack of a better descriptive. As the aesthetic and tone of the last film, morphs almost into an attempted impersonation of itself. This entry, to me; feels like they took the last film, ran it through an AI video prompter and asked it to make a natural feeling sequel to just that self contained story.

Narrative wise, we get largely bogged down in half hearted and somewhat awkward character pieces, that purely exist to more firmly insert the kind of ‘lore’ into the series that really should have already been firmly in place 3 movies ago. The characters dont really get a whole lot of personal development in this movie, as the emphasis is on setting up the players and scenarios for the big ‘2 part’ finale. So we as the audience have to make do with a LOT of awkward and slightly cringey romance sequences and ‘feelings’ talk the feels less like it was written with heart, purpose and intention, and more that it was written to give the characters a quick and dirty B-plot because the A-plot alone is a bit repetative.

Yes, the majority of the A-plot here revolves around Harry finding a mysterious potions book belonging to someone known as the ‘Half Blood Prince’ and while that mystery slowly stews on and off in the background, our other A-plot revolves around Harry and Dumbledore doing some espionage on Hogwarts latest (and returning!) potions teacher Professor Slughorn. and when I say these two plot points are a bit repetative, what I mean is that each act of this film can be summed up as follows:

*Harry approaches Slughorn to try and get some information, he’s rebuffed.
*Harry expresses feelings for GIRLS to people for a brief window.
*Harry and the gang ponder who the ‘Half Blood Prince’ might be and debate the morals of using the book in lessons.
* Ron and Hermione HEAVILY imply theyre interested in each other
*Harry Approaches Slughorn again to try and get some information, and gets a tiny bit.

Repeat in 15 minute chunks until the final 20 minutes or so, when the plot suddenly flips into the prologue of the next film, which is a 4.5 hour ‘fetch quest’ with a final few twists thrown in to ensure folks DO actually come back.

Its not inherently unwatchable, but I would say the scenes with Slughorn are pretty much the peak of this movie, and they’re genuinely pretty funny and engaging, but a film cant really survive off of Jim Broadbent alone…equally with the film being laser focussed on these 2.5 plot points, it means we get SIGNIFICANTLY less time with the characters that actually make these films fun, the teachers dip in and out fleetingly, but dont get a whole lot to do, the Death eaters and supporters of Voldemort get the same treatment and the Order barely get 10 minutes before they’re boxed away. It just feels messy, trying to cram everyone into a 2.5 hour film whether they actually feel organically involved in the narrative or not.

As such, the pacings a bit off as well, This doesnt so much feel like a coherent 3 act film, and more like a series of sketches and lore drops stapled together. its consistently toned at least in what its trying to do. But the fact that it feels almost like a tribute act to what came before left me feeling like narratively, the series had kind of hit the wall. it felt derivative of itself at times here, which is never a good sign.

Same goes for the cine and direction. As with all these films, I cant really fault them on a technical level, they’re well made, visually impressive films that still hold up over 15 years on. But the ‘freshness’ of this series here is definitely starting to waver. Like the script, the aesthetics they’ve chosen feels derivative of the previous film. Like the film makers looked at the last film, forgot that THEY made it, and went ‘Aww! thats really good! We should do something like that!’ So they made a film that feels like ‘Order of the Pheonix’ without any of the refreshing ‘new-ness’ that ‘Order’ brought with it.

There are some very impressive set pieces, the edit is nice and tight, the CG still largely works, and the score ties the whole thing together, but its kind of inescapable that this one just…feels like everyones kind of ‘done’ with it, and just want to get this and the next couple of movies out of the way and over with.

Performance wise, well, as mentioned we have Jim Broadbent. He’s probably the saving grace and single fantastic performance in this. Everyone else feels like they’re coasting. I expect that from Gambon at this point, but Daniel Radcliffe is clearly phoning in his scenes here because…through a mixture of battling alcoholism through most of the filming of this and probably feeling like he was basically ‘untouchable’ I suppose he thought he could just…Do whatever he wanted at this point. But when Alan Rickman isnt even really trying, you know things are stale. and the feeling kind of reverbarates across most of the major cast.

Ultimately; ‘The Half Blood Prince’ was built from the ground up to be a prologue to the finale, and thats basically its biggest flaw. A production that feels like its sole existence isnt to tell a story or engage the audience with a meaningful plot. But a film thats sole purpose is to get the audience to a place where the finale is set up and ready to go, while wearing the skin of the last film and trying desperately to convince the audience that its ‘just as good’.

I cant personally say I disliked it, but if it wasnt for the fact theres only the two part finale left at this point, i’d have probably just stopped here…instead. we carry on, and I think thats probably my end thought on this one. If you’ve got this far, you might as well do the last two. but if this had even been 1 or 2 movies earlier in the series. This would have been the film I bailed on…while things were still vaguely kind of enjoyable.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/

by tytdreviews

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007 – ★★★★

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

The fifth entry in the ‘Harry Potter’ series, and probably my favourite, I dont think that ‘Order of the Phoenix’ has quite the charm or punchiness of ‘Philosophers Stone’ but one thing that it is, is incredibly refined and consistent.

My biggest issue with ‘Philosophers Stone’ was simply that it felt too rushed, and that too much of the more entertaining or insightful moments were cut out of it. Order of the Phoenix just about hits the sweet spot of cutting enough out that it keeps things light and constantly moving, but this is combined with a refinement of the ‘moody emo-ey’ vibes that were seeded in ‘Azkaban’ and refined through ‘Goblet of Fire’.

Here? the darker moments are complemented with some more emotionally driven pieces, the comedy elements have a nice acidic dark streak to them, which I found pretty watchable. The more hormonally charged elements of the last film have been toned down and reworked into something a bit more realistic…Though; its still all a bit awkward and fumbly really.

I think probably this films saving grace has to come in the form of Imelda Staunton’s ‘Deloris Umbridge’ quite possibly one of THE most passive agressive antagonists to be put to film in the last 20 years. a seethingly unlikable character that hits the absolute sweet spot of being so unlikable as to start entire movements against, her while being utterly watchable out of sheer spite and contempt. I dont watch these films often, but I honestly think her turn here is one of the greatesdt performances she’s ever given.

Outside of that, theres not much to say really, on a technical level this is probably the best looking Harry Potter film since the first one, though im still not entirely sold on the proto live action Tim Burton Whimsy aesthetics. The pacing moves at a clip with all three acts getting about even distribution and while it would have been nice to see them slow down a little at times on this one, the consistent drive to go from beat to beat here is very welcome and very paletable.

The visual effects hold up nicely, I feel this adaptation cuts more or less everything I personally would have cut, though it would have been nice to have seen Dobby again.

Performance wise, everyones on full form, this is probably my favourite turn for the cast since the first film, with Alan Rickman and David Bradley in particular having some fantastic moments that are often picked up as ‘series defining’ turns. Staunton as mentioned is delightful, even Michael Gambon (who im not the biggest fan of as Dumbledore personally) gives a good turn and brings a softened layer to his performance here.

And to top it all of the score reverts back to a more orchestral fantasy vibe, while retaining a little bit of the more whimsical jazzy stuff that Azkaban and Goblet worked into the mix.

Honestly? a quick caption review of this one is that Azkaban introduced a new aesthetic and tonal style to this franchise, Goblet of fire revised it but still didnt quite hit the nail on the head for me. But Order of the Phoenix revises and finesses things one final time, and I feel like the combination of an engaging storyline that isnt entirely centered around Harry or Voldemort, combined with this firmed up aesthetic, creates probably the most solid Harry Potter offering since the first film. Its probably my favourite sequel out of the entire franchise really.

Oh, and can we take a moment to appreciate Tom Felton, an actor who somehow started this series as a pretty solid Child actor, and then slowly forgot how acting works. God bless him.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix/

by tytdreviews

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2005 – ★★★½

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

I feel like ‘Goblet of Fire’ kind of marks the beginning of the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise re-finding its feet. After the last two entries tried leaning into ‘darker fantasy’ and ‘moody emo tone’ by way of the live action Tim Burton Movies. This entry sees things evolve a little bit from ‘Azkaban’ and the ‘sweet spot’ is more or less found for how this series will look, act and feel from this point on up to the finale.

Do I like this aesthetic? well, I wouldnt have chosen it personally. But I dont actively hate it, it’s a vibe that I just kind of accept, but quietly moan about. I think the main issue I have with it, is it just feels so drab and washed out, especially compared to the other entries. all those rich reds, greens, golds and ‘warm white’ tones from the first two films have essentially been replaced with greys, blacks and washed out browns, everythings so desaturated as to almost be painful. Had they gone for a more colour rich and deeper palette, I think this could have looked truely extroadinary…As it stands its ended up looking like most video games of this era , and has more in common with ‘Twilights’ colour palette than anything else.

I appreciate im in the minority on this opinion, people clearly like the aesthetics and tone of this film as Warner have spent the last 2 decades solely making merch in this style and tone. But I just find it kind of drab and lifeless.

With that in mind, I think technically, this still holds up pretty well, the direction and cine are sharp, clearly thought through and distinctive for the time, the edits relatively tight (almost to a fault…but more on that later) and the scenes are deep and detailed, in spite of an overreliance on CG and special effects. Realistically, this is a big budget fantasy film, and if thats the vibe your looking for (with some laughs and darker moments along the way) then i’d struggle really to think of a better example.

However; its the scripting for this one that really kind of hobbles it for me. Bearing in mind, this is one of the longer books in the series, and its runs 3 minutes shorter than ‘Chamber of Secrets’ (the 2nd shortest book in the series). The sheer amount of content thats been trunkated, changed or just cut out all together is frankly baffling, and as someone who’s listened to this book multiple times. I still cant quite believe just HOW MUCH of the original plot is missing.

Entire sub arcs involving the house elves are gone, scenes during the tri-wizard tournament are altered to remove character development, or extended, removing the more subtle and succinct charm of the books. These are important elements that help set up the next few films and books, and they simply dont exist here. I would say at least a third of the books plots, set ups and deeper moments have been axed all together or heavily changed.

And, as someone who’s read and seen this now, it makes the film version feel incredibly uneven by contrast, we have a rushed opening act, that gives way to a lumpy and uneven middle act, crashing into a final act that feels as if you’ve been ranted at by a lunatic for the last 2 hours. Its definitely a thrill ride in some regards, but its frankly exhausting by the end credits. and doesnt make for the best of viewing experiences.

The new characters here have slightly botched introductions, meaning when they get more of a presence in later films, it feels weird. and key characters from this book are missing entirely, completely nuking other characters only real reason to be here (poor Fred and George!)

This was probably the 2nd of 3 peaks for ‘Harry Potter’ mania. The series was running about as high as it could run around this time, and ultimately; this film just kind of feels a bit rushed and uninspired by contrast. Yes the performances are still fun, and theres a handful of decent ‘sketch’ moments here and there, but it feels inescapable that the production didnt really know how best to handle what is ultimately probably one of the more complex Harry Potter books. The Triwizard tournament in and of itself would have been MORE than enough to be getting on with, but its also running with plenty of hormonal teen subplots, AND trying to set up elements that’ll pay off in later installments. Its a lot, and I dont feel like they quite nailed it here.

This far into the series, I’d say if you didnt like ‘Azkaban’ it might not be worth going any further. I ultimately found this one inoffensive for the most part, with just enough good things to keep me on board, but I cant say I inherently loved it. The visual spectical and that handful of funny/solid moments is doing a LOT of heavy lifting for this film. and the gulfs where that isnt happening is frankly quite deafening.

i’d rewatch this one again, but I think its definitely one of those films where i’d keep my phone on standby for idle scrolling. Definitely a ‘background’ movie.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire/

by tytdreviews

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004 – ★★★

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

The third entry in the ‘Harry Potter’ series and the last film I bothered to read the book adaptation of. ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ is quite literally just a ‘fine’ movie. and while the elements and characters this film sets up will get a lot more love and depth in the later sequels. For now, this feels almost like the germination point for where the rest of the series will go thematically and aesthetically from here on in.

Visually, theres a big shift away from the more whimsical fantastical fantasy aesthetic and styalisation, into a more moodier ‘Tim Burton-esq’ dark fantasy. Im personally not a huge fan, but it was the style at the time and if you dont much care for it here, well…buckle up because theres 5 more films in this style to come.

Technically? I cant really fault this film, its at least trying to stand on its own two feet when compared to ‘Chamber of secrets’ which felt like it was trying to ape ‘Philosophers stones’ visuals unsuccessfully. ‘Azkaban’ isnt trying anything ‘new’ exactly, but it also isnt trying to retread old ground, so I do have to give it that.

Its also almost 20 minutes shorter than ‘Chamber of Secrets’ so it has that going for it, the script itself feels a bit more nippy and story driven, theres definitely less randomly ambling around following the day to day school antics at Hogwarts, and more of a clear 3 act story with progression and drivers for the characters motivations. I dont really care much for the mopier blunter tone this films going for, characters are generally moodier, sadder and more aggressive. Which is a shame. But given they’re appealing to the ‘alt’ crowd of the 2000s…they could have gone WAY more cringe than they ultimately did.

The scripts pacey, has a good 3 act structure thats evenly balanced, tells a half decent story fairly well. Im not the biggest fan of the time travel elements in this one, but on this rewatch, I have to say I enjoyed it more than last time, theres less distinctly memorable moments in this one compared to the other two, but what it lacks in distinction it makes up for in consistency.

The performances are once again pretty rock solid, Im not entirely won over by Michael Gambon as Dumbledore in this one, he’s not nearly mild mannered enough and has seemingly decided that Dumbledore should be more irrassible than welcoming…and that doesnt improve as the series goes on…STILL! David Thewliss is an absolute delight as Lupin in this one, as is Gary Oldman as Srieus Black. I have no notes, they’re pretty much perfect casting for me. and the score seems to have had a bit of a kick up the pants with a slightly more skatty Jazz vibe to it this time around. An odd choice…but I like Jazz, so it works for me.

All in all? this entry feels like the series is finally deciding what direction it needs to move in tonally. But unfortunately, I dont think its a tone I personally like. The loss of sincere tender moments and genuine fun makes this entry feel less like a fun adventure family movie, and more like the cringe inducing readings from a teenagers diary.

Its a solid enough production, and I know they get better as they go on. But I spent most of this film kind of wishing it would just get to the next ‘good’ bit.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban/

by tytdreviews

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2002 – ★★½

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

A somewhat ‘rocky’ continuation into the film adaptations of the Harry Potter books. ‘Chamber of Secrets’ takes everything I liked about the adaptation of ‘Philosophers Stone’ and basically goes ‘Pfft. we dont NEED that kind of pleasent and well made craftsmanship, we need ONE OFF MOMENTS!’ Because, thats pretty much the only thing I enjoyed when it came to this film. a series of about half a dozen or so disconnected moments totalling about 5-10 minutes of the films full 2 HOUR AND 40 MINUTE RUNTIME OH MY CHRIST.

I dont know what possessed them to make the 2nd shortest book in the series the longest film adaptation, but I for one was definitely not a fan.

The script itself isnt exactly unpleasent, but its really just a bit of a nothing burger. a murder mystery where half the plot elements are pulled out of the authors backside to make it make sense, and while I remember the book being quite pacey in getting all the set elements in place and then letting the events unfold, the film version is in NO rush, plodding along barely mustering any kind of tension, and tripping over itself to put silly gags and random gurning to the camera in as many scenes as possible.

It feels like the production REALLY wanted to go into dark and gritty terratory, and the book does have some darker themes. But rather than using the preferred formula of whimsy and light comedy contrasting darker/sadder moments. Here they go for emo level darkness contrasting Tim Burton style physical comedy. and it just doesnt pack the right punch for me.

The characters overexplain EVERYTHING, WAY more than they did in the first film, scenarios and scenes drag on and on endlessly. and again, while I didnt hate this one. It seemed to do the absolute barest of minimums to keep me on side just about.

The cine and direction are fine enough, though this entry seems to favour more CG over practical effects, I know as the series goes on practical effects become a rarer and rarer thing, but I do miss a good model shot here and there when it could have worked. Technically, I cant really flaw this production it looks pretty solid, especially for 2002 higher budget cinema.

The performances are mixed, again I wont really go into detail on the kids performances, but I will say it feels like some of the cast have almost regressed in understanding their characters in this entry, Where they nailed the characterization in the first film. I will once again compliment Alan Rickman because…why not? he’s usually the best part of these movies. and I do have to credit Kenneth Branagh as Gildroy Lockheart, a wonderful realisation of the smarmy, self centered ‘perfect guy’ and Branagh plays all the twists and turns that come with it beautifully.

The scores kind of unremarkable, essentially rehashing the first films score, and its just more of the same, it helps keep the continuity going, but there arnt really that many well used moments, and a lot of the newer tracks sound kind of derivative of the older work.

In short ‘Chamber of Secrets’ is an ‘Arse Numb-er’ of a film. but not an unpleasent one. A Middling effort with a handful of fun moments, some decent (for the time) set pieces and special effects and some great performance turns. But that 2 hour 40 runtime is a SERIOUS blockade for me when it comes to rewatches, and I dont know how Kids today would take such a long and fairly uninteresting production. I reckon it’ll be a while before I respin this one again.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets/

by tytdreviews

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 2001 – ★★★½

A Statement before we begin –
tytdreviews.com/2026/01/03/a-word-on-j-k-rowling/

And without further ado;

Its been probably about 5-6 years since I last revisited the original ‘Harry Potter’ films, I was never a particularly big fan of the series, I caught the first two films when they came out, but had a pretty sizable gap before seeing the third film, and it wasnt until around 2015 or 2016 that I finally watched all the other films for the first time. Tonight, me and my partner decided to go through the whole series again, but the first couple of films WELL exceed 2.5 hours, so its going to be one we do in chunks for the forseeable. Starting with the first film, and probably the one im most familiar with, and honestly? I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, visually? for a 25 (soon to be 26) year old film that relies heavily on CGI and special effects, I found this film remarkably held up quite well! some of the effects are creaking a bit by this point, but given that there are big budget studio films released in the last 12 months that dont hold up as well as this film does, thats pretty miraculous honestly.

Christopher Columbus clearly bedded himself firmly into the world of Harry Potter for this entry, as the end result is a striking and, for the time, destinct and vivid vision that blends various ‘classical’ period styles into an eccentric, but delightful tapestry. This entry in particular always felt a lot more whimsical and festive to me than some of the other entries. a film thats aiming more for a light hearted fantasy aesthetic and isnt afraid to lead with gentle visuals, and then contrast them with the odd stronger, darker scene or two.

the cinematography is rich, deep, crisp and colourful. the sequences are nicely hung together, and for a 2.5 hour feature, this really does move at a clip. honestly; on a technical level, theres very little I have to say about this production, other than its a very well handled and technically impressive for the time feat, and that I can totally understand how, for the time, this became the captivating theatrical piece that launched a generation of Millenials into a mad frenzy.

However; if I do have to pick fault with anything, the script would probably be it. Having read the book a few times growing up, it was noticable this time especially just how far afield the film goes compared to the book. entire backstories are just blatently abscent, and the front end of the book is particularly edited down, removing a LOT of action involving the Dursleys and chopping down/smoothing over a lot of character development and more entertaining moments between Harry and the rest of the cast.

Its so glaring as to really put me off the production, because so much of the more charming materials from the book have just been airlock’d. Not helped either by the elements of the book that WERE quite questionable (having the one Irish character be called ‘Seamus Mcfinnigan’, and having him be notorious for causing explosions is I feel…a bit rum.) being retained in full, and in some cases expanded into recurring running gags.

I guess what im saying is, and this is the case with most of the films in this series, if you are familiar with the books, the films will feel like entire continents have been deleted from them. Im still sore ‘Peeves’ (played by Rik Mayall) got entirely removed from the film for no good reason.

As a result, to me, the first act feels rushed and missing a lot of the setup and charm, the second act feels kind of pedestrian, but keeps things moving along just about, and the third act feels like a mad race to the finish, with an ending that doesnt really feel like we just experienced a film, rather we’ve ‘paid to play’ for a couple of hours, and our times run out. Come back next time.

This combined with the aforementioned rum tones and jumpy narrative does hinder the film ultimately, resulting almost in a ‘two tier’ viewing experience, where fans can ‘fill in the gaps’ while us movie povvo’s are forced to just GUESS why things have happened on screen.

As unfotunate as the scripting is, the cast are delightful. I wont talk about the kids performances in this because, this was essentially most of the child actors first gigs, so it would be a bit unfair of me to judge them given the stakes they were dealing with. However I can say that broadly speaking the casting is about as solid as could be hoped. Richard Harris, Robbie Coltraine, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and Richard Griffiths could not BE any closer to their print counter parts if they tried and they absolutely nailed the brief consistently. just their presence in this film is enough to lift the whole thing up in spite of its faults.

Throw in a delightful and, by this point frankly ‘iconic’ score from John Williams, and you essentially have a flawed production, that just about lands on the ‘positive’ side of the fence. Of all of the films in this series, this is the one i’d be most inclined to say im ‘fond’ of. If memory serves, there are better entries to come in this franchise, but this entry is the one that i’d say comes the closest to giving me a sense of ‘nostalgia’.

Do I think kids today would enjoy this one? if they have patience, then I think they might. But at 2.5 hours long, I think younger kids would really struggle to sit through all of this unless they were pre-invested. and; lets be honest, non of us should be giving J.K. Rowling a sodding penny these days. So…probably not a recommendation from me here.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/

by tytdreviews

A word on J.K. Rowling

Im just going to be honest here, Im not writing this to virtue signal or to try and catch clicks or views. I’m writing this primarily as an explanation. Because I consider myself an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, and I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or impression of my beliefs. Because Its all but inevitable that I will eventually have to talk about this author’s work. So rather than be on the backfoot, or be in a situation where I’m having to defend my position on the spot. I figured it would probably be easier to pre-write and publish this article ahead of time, so when that inevitably happens, I can at least directly link people querying me to this article. Rather than trying to badly phrase or half explain myself when asked.

I don’t like JK Rowling. Prior to the mid 2010’s I was among the many people who considered her a progressive person who was helping destroy hate in all its forms and reconnect children with reading in an age where the television and computer had all but obliterated most attention spans.

Obviously, her biggest and best known works are the ‘Harry Potter’ books, and despite their huge success at the time they were published, I was never really a die hard fan. I read the first 3 books as they came out and thought they were fine enough…a bit of a time killer, but not something I was entirely invested in. Aaaand then the 4th book came out and had the same thickness as a shoebox, which I baulked at as someone who struggles with even the lightest of paperbacks…and then they only got thicker from there. So…I just decided the series wasnt really for me. And to this day I haven’t read a single one of those books since the first time I read the first three. 

Jump forward a few years and they start making Harry Potter FILMS. Now!, this is something a little bit easier to digest. I again watched the first 2 as they came out in cinemas. I enjoyed the first film, thought the 2nd film wasn’t quite as good as the first, but was still alright. And then life had a way of lifing, and I didn’t get around to watching the 3rd film until around 2010. And when I did, I didn’t really like it. You’d think being a sucker for sci-fi elements, the book that involves time travel as a key function would have captivated me. But the problem with introducing Time travel into a series that isnt inherently known for it (such as Doctor who or Back to the future) is as SOON as the time travel element is introduced, the entire series gets undercut with ‘well…they could just go back in time and do this differently.’ The 3rd film also goes a bit darker and moodier and teen angstier than the first two films, which wasnt my thing either…I just came away from it feeling like it wasnt the best adaptation of the book it could have been. And kind of feeling like i’d seen all I needed to see from this film series.

Then in the early 2010s, I met my partner. And for her sins, she (was) a Harry Potter fan. Loved the books, had seen all the films in the cinema as they went out, and had plenty of merch (mercifully she NARROWLY avoided a Harry Potter Tattoo). She’s also Autistic, and as became apparent quite quickly, Harry Potter is a comfort series for her. She has all the books as audio books which she listens to before bed, and she enjoyed rewatching the movies regularly.

Now, since the revelations about JK Rowling’s horrendous views on trans people and supporters of trans rights have come out, my partner has essentially ‘shunned’ the franchise. What does that mean in real terms? It means that since around 2015/2016 she hasn’t bought any new Harry Potter merchandise, she hasnt seen any of the newer films or had any business with ‘The Cursed Child’. She has no interest in going to the Warner Bros. set tour, she doesn’t accept gifts of Harry Potter merch. Her original Harry potter books are stored away, and the only things she has left, are digital copies of the Harry Potter Audio books which were fully paid up versions from 2012 that she has tried to move on from, but her particular brand of autism wont let her quite yet. And the films. 

Which leads me to myself. I obviously wanted to appreciate my partners interests, and despite not exactly being the biggest Harry Potter fan in the world, I at least wanted to try to make the effort to actually understand the franchise a bit better, and maybe try to see what she saw in it. So, around 2015, I grabbed a bluray boxset of all of the Harry potter films and decided to sit down and finally go through all of them with her over a christmas vacation, to see if she could open it up a bit better for me. 

And, I will say that after catching them all and having my partner fill in gaps from the books where applicable, I did get a bit of a better understanding as to why the series was as popular as it was. I still wouldn’t say I was a fan really…But I could appreciate the craft that went into making the films, I enjoyed a lot of the performances and came away from that marathon happier about my life choices than when I went in. I even ended up grabbing a couple of the audio books myself when they were on sale around this time, in part to FINALLY try and get through the 4th novel in a way that didn’t seem like active waterboarding, and in part as an insurance piece on the off chance my partner didn’t have her phone with her when she came to stay with me and needed her ‘white noise’. 

Then, around 2016, after a couple of years of questionable comments, J.K Rowling basically went full on, mask off anti-trans and anti womens rights…a slippery slide she has only continued to fall down since then in increasingly toxic and unpleasant ways. And, a bit like a fart during a tender moment, my enthusiasm for anything she’d ever done was sucked clean out of the room and a sense of shame was the only thing left behind. Around this time both me and my partner realised we couldnt in good faith continue to support someone with such vile ideological views. And that pretty much takes us to the present day, and the main reason im writing this blog. 

As mentioned, one of my partners coping techniques is to watch the Harry Potter movies, things have to be particularly bad for that to happen these days. J.K Rowlings awful opinions actually forced my partner into developing other coping techniques that made her feel better.  But roughly once or twice a year, the black dog comes barking and she needs to shut the world off for a couple of days to try and self right. She does this via my boxset of the movies to ensure that Rowling gets no money from her suffering. But its the only thing that breaks her out of a bad funk. In the last 5-6 years, i’ve not generally been around when those moments have happened. Or if I have, i’ve been too busy with other things to join her. But now that we live together, the odds of me rewatching the Harry Potter films have risen significantly, purely for the fact we now are both under the same roof. 

In particular, it seems to be an autumn/winter thing for my partner to crack the boxset open, and as I log everything I watch on Letterboxd…no matter HOW depraved or deranged. Its looking increasingly likely that i’ll probably end up watching these films over the new year at some point. Hence, this blog. As I wanted to make it as clear as possible that, should I log the Harry Potter films in my Letterboxd at any time, Its because theres a very depressed lady who just wants to spend a couple of hours detached from reality with someone who cares about her. And thats something I am more than happy to do for her. 

To reiterate, I have no strong love or admiration for the series, J.K Rowling and her estate haven’t seen a penny from either myself or my partner since 2015/16. And we dont accept any Harry Potter branded merch, nor do we support any of the ongoing franchise works or live events, including the upcoming TV series and audio re-adaptations, and nor shall we. 

My reviews of these films, when they happen. Will be purely grounded in how well I feel the director captured the spirit of the series, and how well the cast brought to life these characters. The more questionable aspects of the Harry Potter franchise (such as overtly racist names and stereotyping) have been covered to death by better pen owners than me, but I both understand and fully agree with the observations these people have raised that the series is deeply flawed and frankly problematic in that regard. I probably wont go into detail too heavily on that front in my reviews, purely because I feel it should be taken as a given that it would be something i’d detest (especially given this blog post), and that its insane to me that even in the late 90s, that kind of offensive bluntness was prominent in something so massive. 

My honest hope is that I’ll write about these films once, and then never have to speak about them again honestly. That would be a small mercy to me. The ability to watch the movies WITHOUT then having to spend 50 minutes dissecting them would be a tremendous weight off my mind. I appreciate that what I’ve said above won’t resonate with some people. And that, just by the mere act of viewing or listening to anything in this series, I’m committing an affront. And I do welcome discussion on that front, I can’t say it’ll be particularly productive because i’ve basically said everything I can and want to say about my feelings towards this here. But hey, I’m open minded.

All I do ask is for the understanding of why im doing what im doing, and that, should you see my letterboxed profile slowly fill with 2-3 Harry Potter ‘rewatches’, that you know that im out there, trying to help a very depressed woman through the worst of it.

by tytdreviews

Top 10 Films I discovered in 2025

After a couple of MORE than turbulent years, the only thing I really wanted when it came to 2025 was a bit of predictable, uneventful normalcy. With everything from globe stopping pandemics, family deaths and renovation work eating up 2020-2024, All I wanted of 2025 was to finish off a few home improvement projects, get a few videos out on youtube, but otherwise, I just wanted to slow down, not do anything too risky or cavalier, and to just…TRY to get a semblance of a normal life back in the room. I ached for the mundane, just…an 8-12 month window where the worst it got was maybe them forgetting my onions on my fast food order. 

And, in many ways 2025 DID deliver that, a fairly pedestrian 12 months with a few nice things thrown into the mix and only one or two more sucky elements tossed in to remind me that life is fragile, delicate and that at any moment we could all die in horrible and painfully ironic ways. Im honestly pretty happy with how the year shaped up more or less, and anything that DID irk me along the way, was either too small to really leave a lasting mark, or something of a ‘wild card’ situation that I was kind of already vaguely aware could happen, so I was pretty much ready to accept and take on that pain when it did hit. 

And once again, walking side by side with me along the way, I had my old friend Cinema telling me jokes, ghost stories and showing me fantastical worlds along the way. And; as has become a somewhat annual tradition at this point. Ive gone through my years viewings (322 films if you must know!) and whittled it down to a ‘top 10’ of the cream of the crop. As always; I should say that these are in no particular order, and they arnt year specific. These are simply 10 films that I saw for the first time this year and loved so much that I wanted to share them with all of you, in the hope that you find a new favourite, or just appreciate the craft at work in the same way I did. So! Put on your dancing trousers, because we’re about to boogie!

Everything, Everywhere All at Once:

The day after new years day was a pretty uneventful one, after partying till the wee hours the night before I was crusty, headachy, the room was drab and full of the fugg of booze, vape smoke, popped balloons and half eaten remnants of leftover buffet food. All I really wanted to do was crash out in my office and catch a movie that was engaging and unique enough to hold my interest but unserious enough that I could relax into it and not feel like the film was shaking me to make me pay attention. It was there that I landed on ‘Everything, Everywhere All at Once’.

I had been recommended this movie a couple of times throught he previous year, and I thought it had a fun enough ‘wibbly wobbly’ premise, so I decided to take a punt, and I was so glad that I did! An, at times mind boggling plot that beautifully crafts multiple layers of narrative storytelling into a parcel that brimming with enthusiasm and utterly unashamed to show it. 

At its core, this is a family drama, but the fantastical storytelling, intense visual effects, decent contrasting balance of comedy and pathos all congregate together into an absolute feast for the eyes. It absolutely zipped by, even at 2+ hours long and my afternoon got a LOT brighter from there! With fantastic performances, a killer score and a kind of sincerity I rarely see in modern, more mainstream movie releases. Its a film I wont watch often, but I absolutely wont forget, and will relish on a revisit. 

The AGFA Mixtape Release:

This one is a little bit of a cheat, as it isnt necessarily for a singular film, but rather a boxset of releases from the boutique label that just keeps on squeezing my wallet to dust, AGFA. Last year I listed their ‘Hey Folks! Its Intermission time’ set as one of my favourites of 2024, and this past year, they came out with hit after hit, but the crowning gem in my eye was the release of something i’d wished they’d done for YEARS. A comprehensive release of *most* of their AGFA Mixtapes to date. 

For those not in the know, AGFA are a charity specialising in film preservation and the celebration of cult, and US Regional film offerings, they cover near enough all genres from as early as the 20s and as late as the present day, releasing everything from long forgotten 1920s cult gems through to modern day underground hits, counterculture documentaries and everything in between! 

Their ‘mixtape’ line is one I particularly love, these, as the name would suggest, are a mixtape of random ‘off air’ tv recordings from mainline TV channels around the world and public access, random commercials, ‘youtube poop’ style remixes of older media and more! But up until 2025, only 4 of them and a christmas special had been widely available to the public via Vimeos ‘on demand’ platform, with the rest being available only as bookable ‘events’ with digital or print copies provided by AGFA at great cost. 

Well this year, AGFA took 5 of their numbered mixtapes PLUS two of their more ‘seasonal’ offerings and packaged them together in one release, which I pounced on the second I got my chance to! And I absolutely was not disappointed! The obvious gem in the crown for me is the ‘AGFA Special Christmas Special’ a release I’ve now turned into an annual tradition to try and watch every christmas AT LEAST once. Its the perfect blend of seasonal silliness, genuinely lovely counterculture artistry and frankly bizarre glimpses of christmases past. 

But thats really just the tip of the iceberg, while the first couple of AGFA mixtapes are (in my opinion) a little rough around the edges, from ‘Mixtape #3’ onwards things just go from strength to strength with the absurd and daft meeting the genuinely strange. But easily the highlight for this set (and the thing that made me list this as a ‘first time watch’ were the two TOTALLY previously unreleased mixtapes, the ‘Stairway to Stardom’ mixtape and the ‘Lost and found’ mixtape. 

The former, is a collection of clips from the public access show ‘Stairway to stardom’, think ‘Americas got talent’ but the budget is (roughly) $20 and the vetting process seemed to begin and end at ‘Can you get to the studio in the next 20 minutes, and will you bring beer?’ and you’ve landed on fried gold my friend, a relentless free fall into the world of people who think they Mariah Carey, but are actually Mariah from the gas station in town. 

The one two punch that made me love this set is then followed up by the ‘Lost and Found’ mixtape, which is essentially a very VERY early example of youtube poop in motion, a supercut extraviganza of strange online media and lost television footage, remixed and repulped into a perfectly timed selection of alternative comedy gold. 

If I was being honest? I think this whole set would likely be my favourite release of the year. And i’d wholeheartedly recommend it to ANYONE with even a passing interest in the ‘otherworldliness’ of the 20th and very early years of the 21st century. An absolute treat of a set thats seldom left the top of my bluray player since it came in. 

Louis Theroux: The Settlers:

The current genocide happening in Palestine is a scourge on humanity, and the fact that theres a not 0% likelihood that the people currently enabling it will never see ACTUAL justice just about boils my piss. Seemingly; it also annoyed britains calmest and loveliest man Louis Theroux, who returned this year with a new documentary revisiting Israel some decades after his last trip out there to try and get a better understanding of what is going on amongst the people of Israel at this time, and more importantly to try and see what actual real people are living through on both sides of the conflict as incursion and eviction of Palestinians ON THEIR OWN LAND continues and Israeli settlers move in, claiming the land to be theirs. 

This one isnt the easiest of watches, and there are times when Louis himself cant quite believe what he’s seeing or hearing. Im really not kidding when I say that Louis is probably one of documentary films calmest and affable people, and yet there are multiple points in this documentary where he loses composure, or flat out fears for his life. And that ISNT a Louis problem. Thats the bizarre situation a certain subsection of Israel find itself in in the 2020’s. Fear, manipulation and blatant racism runs rife as the documentarian braves being shot at, and even briefly ‘black vanned’. Its an unsettling picture of the middle east at this time. 

Unflinching in what its trying to show, by the end, even Louis doesnt seem to know how this situation improves. But if you’ve been following the ongoing conflict, as I have, you’ll absolutely not want to miss this one, as im certain it’ll be shown in history classes for years to come as probably the most honest and real look at this deepening crisis shown on mainstream television.


Def by Temptation:

One thats been on and off my shelf now for the better part of 20 years, ‘Def by Temptation’, in the UK at least, has one lasting reputation, and thats that it was typically grouped in with 3-5 other movies and released MULTIPLE times through the late 90s and early 2000s as part of ‘multipack’ sets bundled with DVD players to shift units. A treatment I feel was ultimately quite undeserved given those bundles usually contained the kind of movies I review on my channel while wincing. 

In the 2024 black friday sales, I nabbed Vinegar Syndromes release of this film as it was almost out of print and going for a good price. It had drifted on and off my shelf in it’s multipack form, and I figured if VS were giving it a legitimate release, maybe I’d been missing out on something. Turns out, I had. 

Positively OOZING early 90s kitsch, ‘Def by Temptation’ is a cautionary tale wrapped up as a quasi erotic horror film, featuring two friends on different life paths reconnecting and falling into a deadly game against a seductress who may have a LOT more going on than meets the eye.

A Rich and sumptuous piece of 90s cinema, this was made on a shoestring, but feels every bit as professional as a mid budget feature. The fact that the studio that distributed this made every effort to push the fact Samuel L. Jackson is in this film as the main selling point (he has 2 cameos in the whole thing totalling less than 5 minutes) is, in my opinion a tremendous disservice to the craft and work James Bond the 3rd put into this production, the fact this was pretty much his one and only feature (and acting) work, and that he didnt really do anything with his talent past this is frankly mind boggling to me. 

Gorgeously lit, well shot, and boasting a solid set of performances and a nicely bubbling plot that starts by gently guiding the viewer, before slowly fully enveloping them into this world, not to mention a killer soundtrack and some razor sharp editing. This is a seriously underrated horror, and one that definitely needs a lot more love and attention by the horror and film community at large. Definitely one for the horror fan looking for something a little more off the beat and path. 

Vegas in Space:

The tragedy of ‘Vegas in Space’  still to this day lingers in my mind whenever I think about it. An ultra campy, rough and ready pop art vision in sequins courtesy of Doris Fish and Phillip R. Ford, the deaths of two of this films key stars, financiers and producers mere months before the films completion is frankly devastating to hear. Especially considering how unique and fun the film ultimately is. 

I covered this one on my youtube channel towards the back end of 2025 after trying to get my hands on a copy for the better part of a decade, and it was a very rare moment of my preset expectations being not only met, but surpassed. 

Feeling like Joel Hodgeson and Tom Rubnitz collaborated on an all drag space opera, theres very VERY little I dislike about ‘Vegas in Space’. Its colourful, vivid, unflinchingly funny, catty, well paced, well shot, well directed with fun and funky set designs and performances that are both unrelenting and unflinching. The synthy soundtrack only really seals the deal further for me on this one. 

I appreciate this film wont be to everyone’s taste, but in a sea of ‘by the numbers’ productions where I can essentially watch them while doing other things and still fully understand whats happening without missing a beat, Vegas in space had me hooked from the moment the title sequence began, till the moment the last of the credits scrolled off the screen, and thats a very rare thing these days. 

Since my initial viewing, i’ve made it my mission to show this one to as many people as I possibly can, and given currently its availability consists mainly of a Troma DVD thats regularly in ‘clearance’ sales, in some cases i’ve even bought copies of the film for folks to watch when I personally haven’t been able to show them my copy. If you have any appreciation for the counterculture LGBTQ, whimsigoth and Daisy age movements of the mid 80s to early 90s. You’ll no doubt love ‘Vegas in Space’ and should seek it out as soon as possible. 

The Night Stalker:

I had NO idea what or who ‘Kolchak’ was before I was introduced to it by fellow youtuber Mack Lambert. Who kindly invited me to talk about the pilot TV movie ‘The Night Stalker’ on his channel (a video im still desperately trying to assemble but will hopefully be out sooner rather than later). I have to say, I was quite impressed honestly. 

The whole premise of ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker’ is probably best described as a kind of proto ‘X-files’ meets ‘Columbo’. Carl Kolchak is an investigative reporter who specialises in ‘the unknown’ and particularly in cold or dead end cases where a supernatural or otherworldly presence may in fact be the cause of the incident. 

The Night Stalker was the first of two feature pilots for what would go onto become a 2 season tv series. And it introduces us to Kolchak, who he is and what he does, as he arrives in Las Vegas following up on a series of bizarre murders that have baffled police, but may in fact be caused by non other than a Vampiric entity. 

I wont say anything more than that as I feel that’ll spoil the movie. But this was absolutely one of my favourite murder mysteries that i’ve seen in a LONG time. Gorgeously shot, 70s TV does this film no justice compared to the crisp and vibrant HD scan of the original film elements I watched. Razor sharp editing, lovingly crafted lighting and sequence work, rock solid compositional work and a script that is the perfect blend of mild humour, genuine mystery and the kind of gut punches that make a guy wanna go take a long hard middle distance stare out of a window. 

I utterly fell in love with this world building, and found it quite upsetting that both this film and its follow up are in fact in ownership of a completely different studio to the TV series, AND that both the films and the TV series have had independent releases in the US only, that are now all LONG out of print and going for stupid money. Meaning theres a pretty good likelihood that my chance of nabbing all of these on physical media is about as good as me randomly finding £200 on the street. 

Definitely one i’d recommend for science fiction fans or people with a passion for proto noir cinema. I had a really good time with this unique piece of television history, and I hope you will too!

China O Brien:

With Vinegar syndrome releasing both of the ‘Chian O’Brien’ movies in a deluxe boxset in 4k in late 2024, I just had to check it out as my rothrock filmography has been frankly woeful. And while I could take or leave the sequel, the first entry in this series is everything I love about a good action martial arts movie and then some! 

It all ultimately comes down to Cynthia Rothrock as a personality, if she wasnt the star of this film, this would likely just be another middle of the road slightly goofy action movie. But Rothrocks charisma, charm and the downright fun action sequences in this one really kept me on board for the full duration. It was enjoyable enough that, purely off the back of this one, I went and grabbed a few more Rothrock films to spin this year. 

The 4k scan looks great, really bringing to life the rich neon colours and vibrant surrounding greenery of small town USA in the mid to late 80s. Theres some really nice deep cinematography in this one, which when combined with a punchy synthy score and a light and punch packing script, really sold me on this one. One best enjoyed late night with a few beers on standby, ideally with friends. If you havent seen China O’brien and your into action as a genre, you don’t want to sleep on this one. 

The Fog:

Towards the back end of the year, I tried to focus my attention on checking out a few more mainstream hits that may have passed me by, just to see if i’d slept on anything truely spectacular, and during Halloween 2025, I decided to check out John Carpenters ‘The Fog’…In many ways I was kind of kicking myself from the off as to why I hadnt done it sooner. I mean, its pretty much slap bang in my favourite era of Carpenters work, just after he’d released ‘Halloween’ and ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ just BEFORE he’d work on ‘Halloween 2’, ‘Escape from New York’ and ‘The Thing’. Its basically THE era most people know for Carpenters work, and yet ‘The Fog’ just never quite made it into my rotation. And I really wish it had a lot sooner!

A key thing about Carpenters direction and vision around this time is a seeming relentless urge to slow boil the plot, in lesser hands this could come across as boring, but Carpenter and Deborah hill do such a wonderful job of crafting unique and interesting characters and building a fully flesh and blood world for them to inhabit, that you become engrossed in the towns goings on…So much so that the actual horror element almost takes a back street to just…some absolutely astounding character pieces. 

Its just at the point where you begin to wonder if the horror element is even going to be all that intense with this piece, that it lands with the thud of a sledgehammer, and the whole film kicks into overdrive, taking these well crafted characters and thrusting them into a life or death situation where, because of all the careful setup, the audience IS genuinely invested in ensuring that as many of these people live as possible. 

That is only a small part of what makes this film so brilliant of course, the cine and direction are utterly delightful, the creative vision is precise almost to a surgical fault, and with a star studded cast including Carpenter regulars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh, Charles Cyphers, and Hal Holbrook. The only thing more stunning than the visuals are the performances throughout. A cozy ghost story of a movie, its perfect viewing around Halloween and the colder months of the year, and guaranteed to have you twitching your curtains if you live near the coast!

Miracle on 34th Street:

When it comes to Christmas movies, I have a serious problem, and thats the fact that, due to the nature of the season, I very rarely find the time to make it through a whole movie in one sitting during the holidays. I mentioned this in my recent review of ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians’ but it can frequently be the case that I put a movie on, get 10-20 minutes in, and then get pulled away to either help set up Christmas decorations, to ferry family to holiday shopping or festive events, to visit family, to go buy christmas food, to wrap presents, to send out christmas cards. And it can quite literally be the case that i’ve seen a movie maybe once in its entirety, in 5-10 minute chunks across a 5 year window. 

‘Miracle on 34th Steet’ was very much one of those movies, a film uniquely placed in the painful spot of ‘famous enough that I feel I really should have seen it before now’, but not SO important in the holiday schedules that I felt the need to sit and watch this thing from start to finish annually. I can say i’ve seen pretty much all of the 90s remake in dribs and drabs over the years. I’d seen small bits of the 50s TV version over the last 20 years. But I can honestly say, barring maybe 1-2 minutes worth of clips. I’d never seen ANY of the original 1940s version. So! Armed with a rum infused hot chocolate and the missus, I decided to actually, consciously sit and watch the original to really get to the nub of why this film is so fondly remembered and revisited. And I totally get it. 

Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle here is positively radiating across the runtime, bringing a level of warmth and openness to Santa that I feel makes all other on screen appearances feel positively pale in comparison. The scripts super tight with a good, but gentle humour to it. It steadily builds up a good ‘festive feelgood’ pace until the final act when it fully unleashes unrelenting seasonal cheer on the audience. With goodwill and jokes that still more than hold up and feel relevant to this day. 

With a grand sense of cine and direction that feels revolutionary for 1947, there are moments of this film that to 2025 sensibilities may seem a bit…off colour, I think its fair to say. But these are mercifully few and far between and what we ultimately end up with is a film with a sincere and upbeat cast, a fun and lighthearted plot with some nice contrasting moments, and probably a less puritanical antidote to ‘Its a wonderful life’ a film that revels in the season and the meaning of Christmas, maybe a touch commercialised? Sure thing, but as Kris in the film protests, this season isnt about the toys, its about the people, and making sure everyone who can, is able to get what they need. This was a first time watch for me, but I could easily see it entering regular christmas movie rotation. 

Sonic the hedgehog 3:

I’ve been a fan of the ‘Sonic the hedgehog’ games since the first one reached UK shores, I’ve played pretty much every mainline title up to date, i’ve watched all the TV shows, read a decent chunk of the comics, kept track of the lore and even given part of my brains capacity over to the Chris Chan extended universe. I have a soft spot for the ‘Blue Blur’. 

And while I was MORE than apprehensive when they announced they were producing a ‘Sonic the hedgehog’ movie, to the point that I actually decided to give the first film a miss just, purely because it seemed set up on purpose to not really be made for me. I decided that, before 2025 rolled to a close, I’d finally give the 3 ‘Sonic’ movies a go. In part out of genuine curiosity, and in part because the latest entry ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ had gained quite a positive critical reception AND it was loosely based on one of my favourite Sonic games ‘Sonic Adventure 2’ 

And I honestly came away really quite impressed, this is quite the anomaly in the the film industry, a franchise that gets better with every sequel. I was already kind of surprised when the first film wasnt quite the dumpster fire I was expecting, but when I actually found myself more than enjoying the 2nd film, I was thrown for a loop, but then the THIRD film!? Well that was a whole other kettle of fish. 

I’ll be honest, its quite an investment to sink into getting to this entry, all the films are quite interconnected and they arnt exactly built for audiences to just ‘hop on or off’. You need to have seen the 2nd one to get the most out of the 3rd one, and you need to have seen the first one to get the most out of the sequels. So I don’t begrudge anyone giving this series a miss given how much time is needed to get up to speed on it. 

But I can say, I had a really good time with this one, while they toned down some of the darker moments from SA2, they did keep a LOT in that I thought would have been chucked, theres some really nice references to SA2 for things that didn make the cut as well. And as this series goes on, it feels like the film makers are having more and more confidence in bedding in references to the games and extended media universes, which helps create a more uniform vision. 

Keanue Reeves is Shadow the Hedgehog here, and I think he does a really solid job. Would I have preferred a slightly campier Shadow, more in line with his Gamecube and PS2 era persona? Absolutely. But even with those edges sanded down I would struggle to say I disliked the new approach. 

With striking visuals a fun and engaging script that isnt afraid to take a family movie to darker and deeper places, and some genuinely well written characters. ‘Sonic the hedgehog 3’ may have some low brow humour and a lack of clarity holding it back from truely being the best it can be. But I cant deny that as the credits rolled, I was raring to go on ‘Sonic 4’ (coming 2027) and I think that the franchise, and this film specifically, would MORE than make a big splash on any family movie night! Whether your a longtime fan of the games, or just morbidly curious like I was. I’d say this one was definitely worth your time!

And with that! We draw 2025 to a close! I don’t think theres anything here that would surprise regular viewers/readers. But I hope if nothing else that you take a chance on at least one of the films in this list, and if you do, please do let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts! But for now! The wide open plain that is 2026 is ahead of us, and I’ve got some movies to spin!

Take Care!

– Dan

by tytdreviews

Sonic the Hedgehog 3, 2024 – ★★★★

This series just continues to surprise me, its a rare thing to see a series where each sequel ACTUALLY improves and just gets a bit better. But here we are. after leaning a little bit more into referencing Sonic 2,3 and Sonic and Knucles in the last film, The studio finally decided to take the handbreak off and adapt probably one of the campiest and bizarre ‘lore’ shake ups in the series history.

I LOVE ‘Sonic Adventure 2’, as a game has it aged well? no. It has a lot of filler and the controls feel like trying to guide your characters through cement at all times. But do I love the vibe of it? you abso-bloody-lutely better believe it. So when I heard they were going to be using SA2 as the base for this movies adaptation I was frankly kind of delighted, in fact, it was when I heard they were going to use this as the base that my interest in this series actually began really.

So the plot is as follows, after the events of the last movie Eggman is presumed dead, and the army have formed a new taskforce with shutting down alien engagement in any way known as G.U.N (as subtle as a brick, and the film acknowledges that). At a secret prison complex occupied by G.U.N, a top secret experiment called ‘Project Shadow’ has been kept in stasis for 50 years, and the film opens with hackers interrupting the stasis cycle and freeing Shadow, a rogue black and red hedgehog with anger issues, from his entrapment.

Shadow promptly destroys the prison complex, takes out all the guards and flees to Tokyo, causing carnage and forcing G.U.N to recruit the ‘Sonic’ team to go deal with him. They get promptly whooped, and so Sonic and co have to fall back on ‘Stone’ Eggmans henchman for help…only, Stone reveals that Eggman survived the last movie and has been slobbing out trying to keep a low profile.

But when the team tell Eggman that the hackers involved in the incident used Eggmans signature moves to free Shadow, he becomes enraged and an unlikely alliance forms to find out who the hackers REALLY were, and to stop Shadow from enacting a 50 year old plan of vengence, with dire consiquences for humanity!

As mentioned, the biggest thing that drew me to this entry was exactly HOW they were going to handle the plot of SA2. The games plotting is pretty insane and border incoherent, with plot lines revolving around cloned demons, Impersonation, Flat out child murder, prototype gods, bio/cyborg engineering and large breasted bat ladies thieving shards of the master emerald. Its…an interesting turn on a series that up until this point was happy kind of just chilling in the woods freeing woodland critters for 75% of the playtime.

And, while I really wasnt surprised at all that there wasnt a 1:1 reimagining of the game to a film medium, I was a little dissapointed in some ways. the very corest of core plot elements are here (Shadow being freed, vaguely framing Sonic for a few crimes, and the final act is VERY vaguely similar to the game) but a LOT of the harder darker edges have been sanded RIGHT down, and a LOT of the campier elements of the games vibe and personality have also all but been sanded off. Shadow the hedgehog in the games is a campy, flouncy and ultimately lovable LGBT Icon, here? he’s a bit of a mopey teenager, and thats a shame. While Tails and Knuckles get a LOT more character development and more personality put on the screen, Sonic and Eggmans characters feel almost toned down as a result of them trying to keep continuity with the previous films vibes and aesthetics.

While big elements of the SA2 storyline are abscent, things like the Bio-lizard and the Chao’s are represented in fun little cameos, they also occasionally drop the odd line from the game into the movie which I thought was nice, along with 1 or 2 music cues from the game. Which again was a welcome addition to me, though Its a shame they didnt lean more into the games plotting honestly.

The script itself is probably the strongest one to date, we once again get some nice references to in game levels and cut scenes such as the Green forest, City escape,Pyramid Cave, and Final Rush, though I do think the series is starting to suffer a little bit in that the human plot lines and the furry plotlines seem to now be forming as an A-plot and B-plot, rather than melding together as they have done in the previous entries. Which is a shame as there were points in this where it felt like I was just watching a generic action comedy movie, and I had to remind myself that Sonic and the gang had been abscent from the screen for almost 10 minutes while the humans just…did humanny stuff.

The pacings pretty rock solid, all the acts move at a good pace and for an hour and 50 minutes long, it really didnt feel it. The tone and vibe is pretty solid once again, though I do wish they’d censored less. I want child murder to be graphic and directly caused by the army damnit!

Hell, even the many performances of Jim Carey in this film didnt grate in quite the same way they did in the last couple of movies, here there are some genuinely eggman-esq moments on display, and…the BIZARRE imagery conjured up when Carey is on screen makes some Japanese commercials look like the shipping forecast.

It ends about as strongly as it could have ended, and with ‘Sonic the hedgehog 4’ coming out in early 2027 (and mild spoilers, but its looking like its going to be taking elements from ‘Sonic CD’, which…I dont like that game much, but I LOVE the concept and Metal Sonic, so Im actually kind of delighted honestly) I feel that this film offers both a satisfying conclusion to its own story, and a good jumping off point if the 4th entry doesnt quite meet the hype.

Direction, Cine and editing are all once again on point. No real criticisms from me, the CG is looking quite a bit better than the last 2 entries, though how long that’ll hold up given the last 2 entries CG aging awfully in less than 5 years…only time will tell, The performances are great once again with Keanu Reeves adding a nice addition as Shadow, he’s got the right tone and vibe for the character, I just wish they’d given him a few more scenarios to really flounce a bit more. But hey, beggers cant be choosers.

The score is a nice mix of genuinely lovely orchestral pieces and remixes/rearrangements of sonic stage levels from the first game up to SA2, I do wish thered been a few more SA2 score remixes in there, my kingdom for an orchestral ‘Metal Harbour’ or ‘City Escape’ sequence. But otherwise, its about as solid as I could have hoped.

‘Sonic the Hedghog 3’ Once again firms up the franchise and offers a tighter, more well rounded viewing experience, with improvements across the board, the humour is now about as tight as I think they can get it and contrasting it with some darker tones in this entry made the funny bits all the more entertaining. It looks great, it has border immaculate vibes and I had a really fun time with this one, I hope they keep the momentum up for the next entry, and in the meantime, I have a ‘Knuckles’ spin off show to catch up on…

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/sonic-the-hedgehog-3/

by tytdreviews