Harry Potter Review from a Jesus Freak

Because if I were 14 and seeing this film, I would break out my magic wand and use it for evil purposes. Call me Mr. Evil. I think even 14-year-olds (wait... make that 4-year-olds) know that magic is fantasy and movies are not real. These religious people need to get laid. They need to realize that the most important thing in the world is not protecting children from an entertaining movie. There are other, more important events taking place that will shape world history, and Harry Potter is not one of them.

(Can we also point out that this movie is rated PG-13. Which means if anyone under 13 wants to see the movie, they need their parents to take them. And a parent's job is to parent. So maybe they can teach their own kids to use magic only for good purposes.)

On to the review.... you can read the whole thing at www.pluggedinonline.com:

Although I’m not a big Harry Potter fan, I can't question this film’s quality on an artistic level. The production values are amazing. The architecture and fantastic European locales are Gothic yet charming. Central characters grow in interesting ways, while newly introduced ones—notably Miranda Richardson’s gossip columnist and Brendan Gleeson’s pirate-like professor with a goofy, roving artificial eye—are quirky and energetic. First-time Potter director Mike Newell had hard choices to make about what parts of the mammoth book to leave out (Goblet still clocks in at two-and-a-half hours) yet manages to create a cohesive product, and does a good job of marrying the story’s bustling action with quieter moments of coming-of-age teen
turmoil.

Nevertheless, no matter how skillfully the story gets told or how selfless, ethical and heroic Harry may be, it's impossible for me to invest myself in a series that glamorizes witchcraft. It’s easy to laugh when spineless bully Draco gets turned into a ferret. But it gets harder to make light of the sorcery when a potion requires that a man hack off his own hand, borrow a bone from a rotting corpse and drain blood from Harry’s arm.

Whether it’s grim treachery or comic relief, the film’s wall-to-wall sorcery is birthed from a faulty worldview that taps into the occult and never recognizes any divine authority. Unlike The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, the entire series is built on a shaky spiritual foundation that sends young fans confusing messages about the morality and merits of the dark arts.

Of course, this is film four. Families that consider the supernatural sinew that binds Harry Potter together more trouble than it’s worth probably put the kibosh on it a long time ago. The ones still with it have decided either a) sorcery isn’t a big deal, or b) while they oppose real-life witchcraft, non-stop spells and incantations are acceptable when used as a literary device.

Even those in the "go with it" camp may find their patience tested with Goblet of
Fire, the first film to warrant a PG-13 rating. It’s extremely grim at times and even features the death of a Hogwarts student. I was amazed at the number of small children seated around me in the theater. At what point will moms and dads who’ve been saying “yes” to voracious young Potter fans decide that things have gone too far? This could be it. Dumbledore warns Harry, “Soon we must face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” They’re not the only ones.