PHOTO COURTESY OF PEOPLE.COM

(Right) Daniel Radcliffe who starred in the original Harry Potter franchise 2001-2011, next to Dominic McLaughlin (left) starring in the new Harry otter HBO series.

There have been many attempts to remake popular movies and TV shows. The CGI remake of “The Lion King,” the “Bel-Air” remake, and the “That ’90s Show” remake are some examples of remakes that actually did amazing.

Now, I wanna talk about some remakes, past and upcoming, that did not quite hit the mark with me. I am in no way a critic, nor do I claim to have extensive knowledge about movies and shows, but I will nevertheless make sure my distaste is heard about the new “Harry Potter” remake. 

Am I still going to watch it? Yes, because I really want to see what was created. No doubt that it’s going to have some weight, with the director being Mark Mylod, known for his work in “Succession” and “Game of Thrones.”

My dislike is not with the casting or the director. The concept is what gets me. I will not be able to look at the new Harry Potter series and have the same or even similar feeling to what I had watching the movies. 

The softness of the camera, the character chemistry, I will not be able to work past that. And it is not just me. Many people on the internet share the same opinion. 

But with that being said, I think something popular, nostalgic and downright beautiful should have been left alone. 

The memory and the bond the viewers had with the characters in the show, the houses as well, should have been something we got to go back and enjoy. Because who has watched whatever they had created after the Deathly Hallows I and II?  

Moving away from something new, let’s go back a few years when they remade “Mean Girls.” Every teenage girl and boy knows that this movie was a rite of passage. For me, Harry Potter was how I viewed American high schools from back in Bangladesh.

From the iconic trio, to the costumes, the visuals and the way you actually got angry at the characters and the way Cady embodied the mean girl energy throughout the movie, was something really extraordinary.

But, how many of us really enjoyed the remake and thought yes, this was necessary? The new “Mean Girls” movie, whose casting was good, liked the actors individually, but the acting and chemistry, putting the story together, was actually really bad. 

I loved the girls individually, but I feel like they did not click the way the original cast did. It felt very low production and rushed, and majority of the people I asked did not even end up watching the movie in the first place. 

Now, everyone’s opinions differ, some may have liked it and even thought the remakes were better and picture quality was better, but for me, nothing beats the original. They did it once, and I think we need to revisit existing nostalgia instead of trying to cash in on it.

Categories: Opinion