[ENG&RU] "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" movie (2022) . My review

English

Hello, friends! As someone who grew up with Harry Potter, has read all the books and seen all the films countless times, I couldn't get past the acclaimed 20th anniversary special edition of the film based on the first part of the saga - "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

General information

Release date: 2022 (World)
Genre: Documentary, family
Countries: UK, USA
Directors: Ehren Creevey Giorgio Testi, Joe Pearlman
Duration: 99 min / 01:39.

Plot

This film is a 'film about a film', not another part of Harry Potter. But despite its documentary nature, the film still has a bit of a plot.
The first thing we see at the beginning is a touching moment when the cast of the franchise, busy with their own affairs, receive the very letters inviting them back to Hogwarts for the Christmas Ball. They, of course, accept the invitation and rush to Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station, boarding the Hogwarts Express. Arriving at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the actors are reunited together in the very hall with the soaring candles years later.

Then the documentary begins, consisting of interviews and dialogues between the actors and directors against the backdrop of sets from the film: the Gryffindor living room, Dumbledore's office, Gringotts Bank etc. The film "Return to Hogwarts" is divided into 4 meaningful parts and covers all 8 parts of the saga in chronological order. The first part deals with the casting of the main characters and the shooting of the first two parts of the franchise, "The Philosopher's Stone" and "The Chamber of Secrets". Part two covers the production of the third and fourth parts - "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and "The Goblet of Fire". Part three covers the fifth and sixth parts - "The Order of the Phoenix" and "The Half-Blood Prince", while part four focuses on "the Deathly Hallows" and the value of the films.

Actors

At the beginning of the documentary, the main Hogwarts students appear: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione), Rupert Grint (Ron), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Matthew Lewis (Neville), Bonnie Raitt (Ginny Weasley), Evanna Lynch (Polumna) and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley). The rest of the cast join in on the discussion of the parts of the franchise in which they have been involved. For example, Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) appears in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Not without the directors of all eight films, Chris Columbus for the first two movies, Alfonso Cuarón for the third, Michael Newell for the fourth movie and David Yates for the final parts, were all in attendance.
The actors and directors also remembered and honoured the actors who passed away: Richard Harris (Dumbledore in the beginning), Alan Rickman (Sirius Snape), Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursle), John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander), Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) and others.
Separately, I'd like to mention the Joanne Rowling situation. The documentary showed excerpts from her 2019 interview lasting a few seconds.

My impressions

"Harry Potter 20th Anniversary" is the perfect film to get nostalgic with the characters, see their emotions, cry with them, and enjoy the beautiful photography. As for informative, you shouldn't expect much. There is hardly any exclusive and new information.
Throughout the film, the actors and directors praise each other in a formulaic way and agree with each other on everything. Watching the contrived dialogues and monologues with a lot of repetition of the same thoughts was a bit boring to me, and by the middle of the film, my interest began to wane.
I also missed Joanne Rowling in the film. In my opinion, the person who created the Harry Potter universe with her talent and imagination deserves more attention than two short excerpts in an hour and a half long film.
Thus, my rating: 5/10.