I have something to set straight. In earlier posts I have been (somewhat) negative about the Harry Potter. I have always acknowledged the popularity of the novels and the fact that they definitely are a landmark in the fantasy genre but at the same time, I have criticized the hype surrounding the movies as I do not believe them to be as good as everybody keeps on telling me.
However, of course there is also good to be found in the Harry Potter movies and I had been told that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is the best one so far. And after having seen this latest Potter movie, I must admit that I am still not a fan but I did enjoy the movie. Not much more than the previous movies in the series but then again, looking back they too were not that bad.
Story
The story centers around Harry, Hermione and Ron fleeing from Voldemort’s forces and searching for the Horcruxes. Destroying these Horcruxes appears to be the only way to stop Voldemort, who by now is in control of the Ministry of Magic and has starting rounding up everyone who may oppose him. The late Dumbledore has left each of them an item to help on this quest.
Despite the death of several of their friends and serious arguments between the three of them, Harry, Hermione and Ron manage to escape from Voldemort’s henchmen, retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor and destroy a Horcrux. However, Voldemort finds the Elder Wand, increasing his abilities even further, making the outlook for the last movie very bleak…
Lots of action, not too much depth
As mentioned above, the movie is definitely entertaining to watch. The storytelling is quite fast paced and there is lots of action. The setting is quite dark with several tense moments but not to the extent that it should be classified in any way as a scary movie: the focus is still on entertaining teenagers so they shouldn’t be scared away.
The whole love story between Hermione and Ron not working for me. This element, together with the uncomfortable moments Harry has with his two friends due to the fact that he is the third wheel, should provide some extra depth to the story but it seems too artificial to me.
Another downside is that it is the first of two connected movies. A large part of the movie feels like a prelude to the finale and there is also no real ending to this first part. This is not surprising as the story is based on one single novel but I feel they could have done a better job. On the other hand, it did the trick in one way: I really do want to know how the series ends and, as I haven’t read the last couple of Potter books, I will have to watch the last movie!
One more to go…
To conclude: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is all right to watch and even one of the best fantasy movies of 2010. You will have a hard time not sitting on the edge of your seat and you will most likely want to see part 2 to find out how the whole saga ends. The final movie in the series may well become one of the highlights of 2011.
Having said that, I am sorry to say that I still haven’t lost all of my misgivings about the series…
After a year that has not been too special on the fantasy front, I really don’t know where to start off discussing the short term future of fantasy; there are simply too many great new things happening in the fantasy genre during 2011!
Novels that will surely be amazing, endings of series that have taken decades to create and have held millions in their grip. Blockbuster movies and a television series that can only blow our minds.
Here are my personal hightlights: the best and most anticipated fantasy titles of the year to come!
Books and Series
The novel I am looking most forward to is The Crippled God by Steven Erikson. It is the last installment of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and should be several hundreds of pages filled with the resolution of all mysteries that Erikson has created during the series. Allthough, knowing Erikson a bit, much will probably remain unsolved.
Close second on my list, mostly because we will have to wait till the end of September before it will be released, is A Dance with Dragons, the fifth novel in George R.R. Martin‘s already legendary A Song of Ice & Fire series. Together with the first season of Game of Thrones (see below), this novel will put a huge spotlight on the fantasy genre.
Soon available (in March) is the latest book of Patrick Rothfuss called The Wise Man’s Fear. After the succes of The Name of the Wind, the anticipation for this new novel is very high.
Last book I want to mention is A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, the last installment in The Wheel of Time series. I somewhat lost interest in the series over the years but for many fans this novel will be the most anticipated of the year and it is bound to be high in the New York Times bestsellers list for a long time. It is expected for November 2011.
Movies
Several interesting fantasy movies will be released in theatres in 2011 so there is a lot to look forward to but none of them are guaranteed to be very good. The most promising one is the last movie in the Potter series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, set to premiere in July. I am not that much of a fan of the Potter movies but the first Deathly Hallows movie was quite good so I am expecting a lot from part II.
The comedy fantasy movie Your Highness can go either way. Or it will be a hilarious ridicule of fantasy movies or it will be a annoying succession of desperately-trying-to-be-funny fantasy scenes. Your Highness will be in theatres on April 8.
Another movie I am not so sure about is Thor, with a story based on the Marvel comics. There is a good chance of this being a movie solely revolving around action scenes with the story having no depth and the characters being flat. Thor will premiere late April/ early May.
Last in this category of doubtfull movies is the remake of Conan the Barbarian. They will have to make an extremely good movie to come near the “level” of the original movie and to shake of the criticism and cynicism that fans will surely have. We will have to wait a while for Conan as it will not be in theatres until August.
One movie I am personally definitely not looking forward to is the first of the two Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn movies that will be released in November 2011.
Game of Thrones
I simply cannot say it enough: Game of Thrones is starting in 2011! On April 17, the first episode will air on HBO in the US and on Sky in the UK and like almost everybody with a heart for fantasy, I love Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire series and am highly anticipating this television series.
As mentioned before, 2010 was not the greatest of years for the fantasy genre but 2011 will surely make us forget all about it. In addition, we will have the anticipation of the movie The Hobbit that is scheduled for 2012…
The start of a new year is a good time to glance back at the past year and try to make some sense of everything that happened. I will do this in a small way by summing up some of the major ripples in the pond called fantasy during 2010. This means that I have made an overview of the best fantasy novels, series, movies, TV series and games of the past year.
Perhaps this short overview will point out a movie you have not seen or remind you of a novel you should have read during last year. If not, it will at least help you form an opinion of the level of the fantasy media in 2010.
Fantasy books and series
First, a quick look at the most popular fantasy books of the pas year. Several novels stand out but in particular Towers of Midnight, the 13th novel in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. It has been written by Brandon Sanderson and the general opinion is that he has done this quite well. This is also reflected by the number one position of the book in the New York Times Best Seller list and the fact that it remained high in this list and was sold in high numbers for many weeks.
Another novel that is absolutely worth mentioning is Under Heaven, written by Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay is probably best know for Tigana but has shown that he can become a stable and important author in the genre.
Last book I want to mention is the recently released Stonewielder. Written by Ian Cameron Esslemont and set in the Malazan world he has created with Steven Erikson, it is a great read that I will review in the near future.
Fantasy movies, TV series and games
The major fantasy event on the screen in 2010 must have been the latest Harry Potter movie The Deathly Hallows: Part I. This penultimate movie in the Potter Series was of course very popular and successful and, I have to admit, quite good. I will review the movie sometime in the coming weeks.
Of course there were more new fantasy movies in 2010, like Twilight: Eclipse and Clash of the Titans. Both are entertaining films but not ones you will remember as a classic.
Looking at fantasy television series, there was the news of the cancellation of Legend of the Seeker which is a shame but not that big a loss as this TV series had dwindling viewer ratings and simply wasn’t that good. Hopefully, HBO can fill the gap and show how a fantasy TV series should be made when Game of Thrones airs on April 17, 2011!
On the game front there has not been much fantasy activity worth mentioning. The World of Warcraft expansion pack Cataclysm was very successful but that was hardly surprising.
Looking back, I would say it was a pretty decent year for the fantasy genre but not a great one. In one of the next posts I will look ahead and will explain what the year 2011 has to offer and boy, that will be something!
Warner Bros has released a trailer for the movie Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows. This movie will be the first of two movies that will finalise the Harry Potter series. Part one will be released on November 17 2010 (or 18/19, depending on where you live).
Although I am not a big fan of Harry Potter, as I mentioned earlier, I will definitely watch the movie. I have good hopes that the last two movies will be darker and more violent than the last couple of movies. It will definitely be fascinating to see how the end of series is depicted on the big screen, especially in 3D.
Click here to go to the official Harry Potter movie website.
Below the trailer of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.
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