If memory serves, this is the first ‘Dragonball Z’ OVA to directly reference the events of the manga/TV series. playing out almost as a ‘What If?’ ‘Coolers Revenge’ picks up in an alternate timeline where Goku defeated Freeza AND Vegeta seemingly, before returning to earth. Namek was still destroyed, New Namek never existed, Goku never learned instant transmission and everything from the moment Goku launched the spirit Bomb at Freeza onwards seemingly never happened.

In this timeline, its revealed that Freeza had a brother ‘Cooler’, and, on hearing of Freezas demise, Cooler decides to head to earth to kill the Saiyan that disgraced his families namesake. Meanwhile, back on earth, Goku and the gang are getting ready for a camping trip to blow off some steam after the whole ‘Namekian Genocide’ business…at which point Cooler and his cronies arrive, wreck up the place, and force Goku to once again fight for the lives of the people of earth!

Much like the special before it, ‘Coolers Revenge’ feels like the creators have kind of found a system and format for how these <60 minute specials should play out. On the one hand, the formula they’ve put together means that these stories very rarely end up awful now…On the downside, its INCREDIBLY repetative, and the fact that these specials ARE sub 60 minutes means we dont really get the nuance, backstory or character development needed to really truely appreciate whats at stake or why we should really care.

I cant fault the visuals, this looks like a beefed up, more refined take on the TV series animations. I cant fault Cooler as a character, though. I dont really know what seperates him from Turles, Lord Slug or any of the other ‘baddies’ from these films up to this point. He’s not quite as interesting or charismatic as Freeza and the lack of runtime means we dont really get to see his personality develop much past ‘You killed my brother, prepare to die.’ which is a real shame.

Coolers cronies arnt as enigmatic as the Ginue force, Krillin and Gohan largely go AWOL for a big chunk of this, Piccolo basically appears out of nowhere halfway into the story. This doesnt feel like a special or even particularly cinematic event. It feels like a 2 part ‘filler’ story within the TV series. Thats not inherently a bad thing, but it did make me wonder really why they bothered to make this a ‘special’ in the way that they did.

In short, ‘Coolers Revenge’ isnt a particularly groundbreaking Dragonball film. Its too short to allow the characters to develop and breath, or for the story to get the nuance it needs to be fully fleshed out. But its too long and deals too heavily in ‘non canon’ events for it to really fit in to the TV series or carry any weight behind it.

I know Cooler has a sequel special right after this one, so I guess if that ones any good, then this one will kind of become essential to understanding that one. On its own though? its kind of unremarkable. Im not unhappy i’ve seen it, given Coolers connection to the mainline TV series, i’d say it IS worth watching just as a bit of an oddity, and at <50 minutes, its hardly a mammoth watch. Im kind of glad I saw it at least once. But It’ll probably be a while before I watch it again.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/dragon-ball-z-coolers-revenge/

The forth OVA ‘special’ from ‘Dragonball Z’ and I feel they’ve pretty much landed on a bit of a formula for these at this point.

The plot this time around revolves around ‘Lord Slug’ a mysterious power hungry being with a demon army who arrive on earth accidentally, learn about the dragonballs, with Slug using their power to grant him eternal youth, restored to his younger, stronger self, Goku and the team must work together to defeat slug once and for all.

Lets be honest here, this is essentially just a 50 minute reimagining of the ‘King Piccolo’ arc from ‘Dragonball’ just tiedied up a bit and with some new ‘Z’ characters thrown into the mix. In that sense, it feels incredibly derivative, and kind of throwaway (as most of the OVAs ive seen so far feel)

However, I will say the short does have some fun enough little moments, Lord Slug may be derivative, but he’s at least got a sense of menace about him, and (mild spoilers) but seeing an early ‘proto’ design for Gokus Super Saiyan form was fun!

Visually, the HD scan of this special is crisp and highly detailed, I thought the performances were solid, if not a little goofy (thats not a bad thing honestly!) I cant say I hated it, it just didnt really bring anything new to the table. a fine enough way to kill about 50 minutes. Absolutely non essential, not one i’d actively recommend. But if you’ve watched through all of ‘Z’ and just wanna spend some more time with the gang, this’ll almost certainly scratch the itch.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/dragon-ball-z-lord-slug/

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

And with that, we’ve reached the end of the original film adaptation of the ‘Harry Potter’ films, and its realistically probably the best way this slightly wonky hodge podge of a series could have closed out.

The plot here picks up literal moments after the end of the first part, and what follows, is essentially, a series of large scale action vignettes as the gang try to do a raid on Gringotts bank, followed by breaking BACK into Hogwarts to look for the final Horcrux’s, leading to a final battle between Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and the students and staff of Hogwarts.

Really, this is less a 3 act movie and more just two massive action scenes with occasional lore dumps and pathos sequences. but plot wise, I kind of think it probably does the best with the material its been given as it possibly could really…or rather, given the setup theyd had to this point, I think what was cut out of the plot or changed wasnt problematic enough to completely throw the thing off.

I think the film keeps a relatively good pacing across the runtime, though it is a bit on the slow side at times, to the point that I did begin to drift into my phone in places, in part due to familiarity, and in part due to an ongoing issue I have wherein prolonged action scenes/fight scenes just end up kind of getting a bit dull and repetative for me.

I feel like they round off most of the characters stories fairly effectively, theres some half decent twists and turns. And while, like the last film, it is a shame that the extended cast of characters arnt quite as bedded in as the earlier films, they do get quite a bit more screen time here, which is better than nothing I guess.

The finale itself? is a tad anticlimactic, made all the more iffy by a post story time skip sequence (which I wont get into here…but it does rather take the wind out of the sails of the production). I feel like it probably did the best it could to translate what was a quite involved passage in the books to the screen, but I think they maybe oversimplified it a little too much, leaving it just a bit on the flat side really.

On a technical level? we actually see a few wobbles here, which was surprising, broomstick sequences looked terrible compared to when its been handled in previous entries, theres definitely an overuse and misuse of CGI in this entry, generating some frankly bizarre and low quality imagery, and the CG doesnt really mesh all that well into the live action sequences. It very much felt like they hadnt quite finished polishing the effects up for this half really…as mentioned, it comes to something when effects here look worse than effects from the 2nd or 3rd film in places.

Direction and cine wise, its fine. its about on a par with the first film, though with a lot of the shoot being studio based, it does rather make this entry feel a little pokey and smaller budgeted than the previous films. Part one was FILLED with sweeping location shots and panoramic views. Part two has a couple of moments like that, but a lot of it is CG generated and feels a bit lifeless as a result. Not helped by the fact that, the aesthetics they cultivated 5 films ago at this point, have now fully cannibalised themselves, leading to an overly dank, border pastiche of the kind of style they were trying in earnest from ‘Goblet’ onwards.

Otherwise though? its a big budget studio picture, it looks find, the edits solid, the creative vision is in line with the other entries in this series…it all just feels a little overly safe on that front though. Which is a bit of a shame.

Performance wise, Maggie Smith really shines here for me, and the core cast get probably their finest moments in the series. But other than that, its all rather flat again. Actors just going through the motions, paycheque motivated, but little else. I think a big hinderence at this point is that the story has shifted the narrative to the Trio predominantly, meaning all these wonderful characters cultivated over the last 7 books are relegated to abrupt ‘Bursting in’ moments that last a couple of minutes at most. Or a border non speaking background role. Ron, Hermione and Harry were pretty much always the least interesting characters in this series, and to collectively, spend nearly 5 hours in there company in these finale films is almost chronically teetering on the insufferable. Its kind of unavoidable really because thats how the books go too…but I feel like we really missed out on some great final turns from this cast because off it.

And the soundtrack feels like a ‘greatest hits’ at this point. Its good, but its SO so tired…

All in all? I struggle to muster solid enthusiasm for ‘Deathly Hallows Part 2’ or the complete ‘Deathly Hallows’ as a closer for this series. Apart, we have an opening part that feels positively glacial and could be used to treat insomnia, and a second part that feels weirdly isolated and struggles to realise its best interpretations. Combined? this is border insufferable.

What I will say, is between these final two films, the heart of the series still feels like its ticking away somewhere in the background, the vibe that runs across all of these films, keeping them consistently (if not vaguely) tied to each other. Deathly Hallows 2 may not be my favourite entry in the series, but it closes things off in a way that wasnt terrible, and I do feel if push came to shove, that I wouldnt dislike watching it again. I absolutely couldnt recommend this film, or the series at large having rewatched them all now. But it was kind of nice to go back through these films 25 – 15 years on and see how the series was able to captivate people back then. I get it…even if it isnt necessarily for me.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2/

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

Chalk this one up to just not really being my cup of tea. Im still ultimately kind of bewildered as to why they split the final Harry Potter book into a two part movie, as it effectively creates a very unfortunate scenario where the first half is all set up and no pay off, OFF THE BACK of ‘Half Blood Prince’ which was another film that was basically all set up and minimal pay off. The second half of this story gets to reap the rewards of nearly 4 hours worth of set up and planning…while this 2.5 hour entry is almost pathalogical in its attempt to put the audience to sleep.

The plot of this film revolves around our trio picking up almost immediately after ‘Half Blood Prince’ setting up to head out and travel the globe looking for the Horcruxes that will ultimately put an end to Voldemort. And while I will admit there are a couple of decent set piece moments here such as the time spent in the Ministry of Magic, and the final 15 minutes or so. the remaining 2 hours mainly consists of Harry, Ron and Hermione arguing, walking endlessly and occasionally warping to a new location. Its like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ but not as well written, with twice as much walking…and sad.

I need to be clear here, even at this point, I dont actively HATE this movie, but this is about as close as i’ll get to hating a film in this series. Its essentially left me feeling largely ambivolent towards it. I dont dislike it, but I sure as hell am unhappy it wasted so much of my time.

The pacing is glacial for the most part as, what the film makers intended to be character building/lore developing set pieces, wind up feeling like endless arguments, bickering and collective grieving over everybody being dead. Oh yeah, thats the other side of this, everyone in this series that made it even remotely fun or entertaining is now either dead, absent or gets a 2 minute cameo and is then never seen again.

Instead, we spend the entire time more or less with our trio, as they have brief moments of interacting with new characters who are just kind of dull, or they’re arguing with each other, which feels hollow when you know that they all pretty much HAVE to sort out their differences before the end, or the second films going to be mercifully short.

The dialogues rough, the performances are lumpy and uneven, while it isnt quite as awkward as the other films in this series, the cast here, at this point in time are positively itching to get away from this franchise, and it shows in their performances. which feel half hearted and not at all focussed on sincerity or genuiness to the audience.

While on a technical level I cant EXPLICITLY fault the direction and cine. It all feels quite tired by this point, as what began in ‘Goblet of Fire’ and was mastered in ‘Order of the Pheonix’ has now eaten itself to the point that it feels bland, beige and incredibly unoriginal. This is just murky, brownish/blackish/blueish sludge cinema, a colour grade that plagued this era of film and video games, taking all vibrance and uniqueness out of the picture. and here its done especially poorly.

While technically, its playing all the right notes, it absolutely isnt playing them in the right order.

Add to this an uninspiring soundtrack, the aforementioned struggling performances and CG that, somehow isnt holding up as well as the previous films…and you end up feeling like you’ve been served up half a meal where every foodstuff has been unceremoniously filled with stuffing.

I sincerely feel for cinema goers back in 2010, who had to watch this for WELL over 2 hours. Get to the end, and then wait 12 months to ACTUALLY see something happen. Because, in my opinion at least? this film was an absolute slog to get through for the most part, with even the interesting bits somehow ending up being twisted into inanities.

Even the posters bloody running…Bring on Part 2…

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1/

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/

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/

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/

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

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/list/the-harry-potter-films-ranked/

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/

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/