[Update 5/20/23: We updated this list to include our ranking of the latest Fantastic Beasts film, Secrets of Dumbledore. All entries in this film series are now included and additional updates will be made if new films are released.]
Welcome back everyone for another entry into our film collection and for another entry into our rankings series. Today we are tackling one of the giant film franchises both of all time and in particular of the 21st century. That of course is the universe of the Wizarding World as created by JK Rowling. It began with the Harry Potter book and film series and has spread out in numerous other directions including the Fantastic Beasts films. Our ranking today will focus only on the films released to date. It is possible that we might revisit this list at a later date to incorporate subsequent films. Thus, this ranking will include the eleven films within the film universe, including the eight Harry Potter films and the three Fantastic Beasts films.
There are a few important factors to mention here that make this ranking different than others you will see out there in the interwebs. We are trying to maintain a strict separation between films and books. That means that our rank order for the books would at times be completely different than the rank order for the films. We are trying to rank the films on their own merits. While quality of the story and film production are certainly important factors, perhaps the single greatest factor that separates our ranking of the films from others out there is how comprehendible the movie is for someone that has not read the book. One of the flaws of some of the Potter films is that they are too reliant upon the audience being familiar with the story already, which means they try to get away with not properly explaining crucial plot points. One of the authors here has actually watched the Potter film series with someone that has not read the books, and noted where the uninitiated viewer will get confused because the film does not actually explain what is going on or why something is significant. A crucial component of film adaptation is faithfulness to the book without reliance upon the book.
And just to reiterate, these are not our book rankings. The film adaptations of some of our favorite Potter books will appear at the top of the list while others will appear toward the bottom. Overall we love the series and the entire Wizarding World universe so these lists are difficult to do, and a low ranking for a particular film does not necessarily mean that we dislike the book or story or film. These lists are always fun to make, so we hope you enjoy reading this one even half as much as we enjoy putting them together. And while you are here check out some of our other film and music lists.
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
MPAA Rating: PG
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book and sixth movie and represents the best of the franchise in essentially every way. The cinematography and visual style captures the tone of the film. The computer graphics are some of the best of the series. The film also balances the tones between heavy and intense with the lighter and heart-warming moments. The film also manages to tell a complex and fully explained narrative that also includes numerous developed and satisfying subplots that only add to the film. Unlike many of the other films in this series, this is truly a film that someone who has not read the book can fully understand and appreciate. Michael Gambon gives perhaps his best performance as Dumbledore. The romantic triangle between Hermione, Ron, and Lavender is one example of those developed and satisfying subplots that also advances the story and the characters.
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
MPAA Rating: PG13
Goblet of Fire is the fourth book and film. Similar to what was said above about Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire features a main plot that is both developed and can be understood within the context of the film itself, without having read the book. This is largely due to the use of the Triwizard Tournament as an event and series of set pieces that are new to the characters as well. Goblet of Fire is also the first appearance of Ralph Fiennes in the role of series villain and antagonist Voldemort. Fiennes provides a more fleshed out version of the character, which is the first of the series given the limited use and presence of Voldemort in the preceding books and films. Goblet of Fire is also arguably the first of the films that places a large chunk of the burden of the acting and of carrying the film onto the child actors. Prior films had relied heavily on the acting talents of the established British thespians to carry the narrative and emotional weight of individual scenes. But this film is where we really see that burden shift onto the younger actors, and they are generally successful in carrying and delivering on the emotional weight of the scenes and the film overall.
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
MPAA Rating: PG
Since this was the first film released in the entire franchise, the writers, producers, and director made numerous creative decisions that proved correct in the long run to firmly and fully establish this cinematic universe. One of the main strengths of the film is the balancing of the advancement of the plot with the larger world building throughout as the Harry Potter character becomes immersed in this secret world of witchcraft and wizardry. One of the massive creative decisions that was absolutely correct was in the casting of high caliber British actors throughout the entire cast, but especially in key roles that carry on through the entire Potter saga. The acting burden is mostly placed on those acclaimed British actors to carry individual scenes and advance the plot. Perhaps the most representative example of this is John Hurt’s one scene performance as Ollivander, where his individual performance is what makes the scene work and be highly memorable. Daniel Radcliffe does very little acting in that scene. But the film works because the acting burden is appropriately not placed onto the the child actors.
4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
MPAA Rating: PG13
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the first film released of a new storyline within the wider Wizarding World. It is set decades in the past, during the 1920s, well before the events of Harry Potter, and is set in New York City rather than Britain. Casting has always been a strong point of this entire franchise, except for one or two notable examples. For the most part, Fantastic Beasts continues in that tradition where all four of the main cast of characters provide unique and convincing character performances for different types of people to relate to and connect with. All of the titular beasts are likewise distinct and fully formed entities that are used in interesting and creative ways to advance the plot. One downside of the film is that there are essentially two story arcs happening simultaneously. While they do connect up at the end, it is difficult at times to follow each of them or comprehend their relevance to each other during the bulk of the film. Perhaps another downside is that the film does tend to require the viewer to already be familiar with the Wizarding World, as it makes numerous references to terminology, characters, and locations from the other films. In that sense, it has some of the standard problems of prequels, but overall Fantastic Beasts is a satisfying re-introduction to the Wizarding World and basis for this new series of films.
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
MPAA Rating: PG
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the second film in the series, and was the second and final film with director Chris Columbus. As such, it has a very similar feel, visuals, and structure as the first film. Like Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets takes the time to fully immerse the characters in the world and explain the plot given that the main characters here are twelve year-olds and who themselves have very little understanding of the strange events happening around them. This also contributes to the main weakness of the film, which is that it feels overly long and drags at points. Despite being the second shortest book, it is one of the longest films, which results in a film that could have been improved through some skillful editing to shave down the runtime a little bit and move through the plot a little quicker. Another of the true highlights is Kenneth Branagh in the role of Gilderoy Lockhart. He steals every scene he is in, and gives a wonderfully over-the-top performance that is completely appropriate for the character.
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
MPAA Rating: PG13
Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the final film of the original Harry Potter series and storyline. And as you can tell from the title, it is part two of the seventh book. Thus, the story centers on the final climatic elements of that book, and in particular the Battle of Hogwarts between Voldemort and the Death Eaters against Harry, the Order of the Phoenix, and the various allied people at Hogwarts. Because of this split nature of the story, this film is thin on plot. However, the bulk of the runtime is action-oriented, meaning that the film does not drag and even within the action is paced well. One of the major strengths of the film is that while Harry is obviously the main character of the series, he is not the central focus of every scene. Both prior to and during the Battle of Hogwarts there are numerous character moments and resolutions to the narrative arcs of many of the characters. Throughout, the myriad supporting characters are given a moment of significance, either to shine or to pay off story lines from the previous films. Perhaps the most representative of this is the moment and pay off for Seamus. Throughout the prior films he was shown has having a particular penchant for blowing things up, or as McGonagall called it “a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics”. This is utilized in this film to protect the school as Seamus is tasked with eliminating one entry point into the castle by destroying a bridge. Other characters like Neville, Molly Weasley, Luna, McGonagall, and Snape all get important moments. One drawback that we have is that while it is generally well shot, the film could be better lit. The entire climactic battle occurs at night, and is lit very darkly which sometimes makes it difficult to fully appreciate what is happening on screen, both in the foreground and the background.
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
MPAA Rating: PG13
Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film and book. The main problem with the film is that they cut so much out of the book and the story that it is almost a filler movie. There are only a few scenes that have any real bearing or relevance to subsequent films. Most of this film is just the bare essentials needed to get the characters to the climax. That is not the case though for the book it is based on, and in fact the book is one of our favorites in the series. If we were doing a book list, then Order of the Phoenix would be at or near the top. But so much of the narrative texture and character development from the book is written out of the film entirely. The most glaring example of that is the entire Harry and Ginny friendship which then later blossoms into a romantic relationship. It is jarring in the Half Blood Prince film when Harry and Ginny kiss, because their relationship and Harry’s feelings toward her are completely undeveloped in the films. So this film cuts out not only crucial character development not just for Harry but for the major supporting characters as well. In the book, Ron and Hermione become prefects and as such they have much more of a life together without and beyond Harry. That strains their relationship with Harry, and is a major contributing factor to why Harry is so emotional and on edge throughout this film. The positives of this film are the depiction of the formation of Dumbledore’s Army, and in particular the casting and performance of Imelda Staunton as our film’s immediate villain, Dolores Umbridge. We have said it before that one of the overriding strengths of the Potter films is the casting and standout performances of the veteran adult actors who carry many of their scenes. That is very much the case here, as she gives the standout performance of the entire film and she is what carries the middle portions of this film, and arguably the entire film itself. The portrayal of the final conflict at the Ministry of Magic is done well, and in particular the importance of the narrative portrayal of Harry’s fallibility. Harry is tricked by Voldemort, despite being warned multiple times in the film by different characters. He charges forward in his own arrogance, putting himself and his friends in danger, which leads to serious consequences including death. In a way it is a bit of comeuppance for Harry that is well deserved.
8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
MPAA Rating: PG
Prisoner of Azkaban is often placed higher on many lists of the Potterverse films. People justify that for its more adult and artistic presentation of this world and the story. And we do not disagree with that aspect. Prisoner of Azkaban, through director Alfonso Cuaron, does represent a maturation of the series. However, all of the main problems with this film, that are often overlooked by critics, can be distilled down into one central issue. This is the first film in the series that narratively relies on the audience having prior knowledge of the story via having read the book. In that sense, this film does not explain several of the main plot points. The first two films are sometimes criticized in the opposite direction for overexplaining the story. But while Prisoner of Azkaban represents a course correction and maturation for the series it shifts too far away from explaining how this magical world works in some key areas. They do not explain how the Knight Bus works. They do not explain how time travel works in this world and the significance of a thirteen year old being granted the magical technology to travel through time for classes. But the worst example of this is the complete failure to properly explain who the Marauders are (why Snape knows who they are) and the significance of the Marauder’s Map and how it works. Those are given much more explanation in the book, which is crucial to understanding the relationships between the characters in the film and what their motivations are and why they act how they do. It is jarring watching the films and getting to Order of the Phoenix where multiple characters casually refer to Sirius Black as Padfoot, yet this is a crucial narrative component from the Prisoner of Azkaban book that is never explained on film. Thus, to reiterate, this film is far too reliant on the audience having prior familiarity with the story and the characters.
9. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
MPAA Rating: PG13
While still several steps down from the first Fantastic Beasts film, Secrets of Dumbledore is still an improvement over the previous Crimes of Grindelwald film. One of the main reasons for this the recasting of the Grindelwald character. Mads Mikkelsen is a vast improvement over Johnny Depp in the role, he should have been Grindelwald from the beginning.
However, this film still maintained several o the other problems that plagued Crimes of Grindelwald, especially questions of continuity and internal logic. One of the big ones that this film adds is that Aberforth is the father of Credence and that they explicitly state that Ariana Dumbledore was an obscurial as well. Given that both of these characters are obscurials and will likely die young as a result, this plot point is not addressed at all in the Harry Potter books and films when we specifically go into the Dumbledore family history. In later films in the timeline, Aberforth is angry with Albus about what happened with Ariana but conveniently never mentions another Dumbledore obscurial, especially one that was a direct relative as a son. And continuing with Credence, it is still not satisfactorily explained why Credence would survive as long as his did as an obscurial while Ariana did not. And for another Dumbledore internal logic issue, the connections between the Dumbledore family and phoenixes is confusing and seemingly haphazard in its inclusion. It seems strange especially given what we know about the prior situation with Ariana.
Regarding the political structure of the wizarding world, this film retcons the political structure of the wizarding world to add Supreme Leader type of figure that is over and above the previously established Ministers of Magic for each country. It makes no sense within the larger continuity and internal logic of the universe during the Harry Potter era why this person/title is not mentioned or involved and why Voldemort would seem to have no interest in having this person replace with his preferred person like he does with the Minister of Magic in the Deathly Hallows movies and what Grindelwald is doing in this movie. One thing that we did appreciate that was consistent with the tone and logic of the other films was the cruelty of the magical judicial systems. We knew of Azkaban prison watched over by the Dementors in the British system, we knew of the black death goo in the American system, and in this film we learn of the large scorpion-crap type creature that inhabits the prison in the German system.
There are also some questions about Grindelwald’s displayed abilities in this film that are potentially inconsistent with other films or at least the power levels in other films. One of them is the reveal in this film that Grindelwald is a seer. It is unclear what this really means, and in particular is this is a natural ability or the result of powerful spell. If it is natural, then why does he not use this ability previously? If it is the result of a powerful dark spell, then why do other dark wizards like Voldemort use it or why do aurors and others not use it? The next one is Grindelwald’s use of necromancy. the Wizarding World has not delved much into necromancy and this was a type of magic that was established previously seemingly as impossible via the Resurrection Stone. Voldemort create the inferi but they are visually different and no one would confuse them for living beings. However, Grindelwald reanimates the qilin animal for an extended period of time where he is able to fool an entire crowd that this is a living creature. This power level of necromancy is far beyond what was thought possible by the established rules of the universe regarding the Resurrection Stone.
We can end on a positive by saying that we did enjoy the mystery and misdirection angle regarding the briefcases that even the characters carrying the cases did not know who had the qilin. This was fun as the audience to see how this played out and learning along with the characters where the animal actually was.
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
MPAA Rating: PG13
Deathly Hallows Part 1 is accurately characterized in the Honest Trailer for the Harry Potter series as “the one you can skip”. That is entirely a problem with the film adaptation, as the first half of the book is packed with important story elements and character development. The film does not properly utilize its runtime as it prioritizes filler while cutting out important plot details. And in general, this film has the same essential problem as what we said above for Prisoner of Azkaban in that is does not adequately explain anything, especially the titular Deathly Hallows. For example, this film almost completely cuts out the connection between dark wizard Grindelwald and the Deathly Hallows, and with that the presence of Viktor Krum at the wedding and Krum’s confrontation with Luna’s father who was wearing that symbol. There was a point in the book where Harry, Ron, and Hermione genuinely debate whether they should pursue the horcruxes or the hallows in their fight against Voldemort, and with that them trying to figure out what Dumbledore wanted them to do. That plot dynamic is entirely absent from the film. Instead of pursuing the character implications of this tension and dynamic, the film wastes time, for example, on a slow dance between Harry and Hermione that was not needed and did not exist in the book. So in essence, Deathly Hallows Part 1 is the weakest of the Potter films because it has the ‘feeling like filler’ problem from Order of the Phoenix alongside the ‘does not explain anything’ problem from Prisoner of Azkaban. Thus, it does not properly utilize its runtime or justify its splitting of the final book.
11. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
MPAA Rating: PG13
There is a reason why Crimes of Grindelwald is easily the weakest of the Wizarding World films. Actually there are numerous reasons. Over the course of the Wizarding World series, the casting has been one of the true strengths of the series. And Fantastic Beasts generally followed in that tradition. However, for Crimes of Grindelwald, when your titular character is miscast then the film is going to suffer for it. And that is the situation here with the casting of Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. The performance of Grindelwald in this film is inconsistent with what we know about the character from the books, and even from the Harry Potter films. And the core issue with this is that Johnny Depp’s performance never transcends the actor. Instead Grindelwald is molded into just another Johnny Depp character. And simply put, Grindelwald should never be an evil wizard version of Captain Jack Sparrow. So the re-casting of Mads Mikkelsen in the role of Grindelwald in the Secrets of Dumbledore film (see above) is a welcome improvement.
In addition to bad casting of the titular role, this film also suffers from an unclear narrative that is overstuffed with subplots and fan service. The common dynamic of overstuffed movies that certainly applies here is not just that they include too many things but also that they do not satisfactorily implement or deliver on any of them. For some reason Ezra Miller’s Credence character is inexplicably back after being seemingly killed at the end of the first Fantastic Beasts movie. There is some subplot involving Zoe Kravitz’ Leta Lestrange, but it is confusing and forgettable. Also there is an argument to be made that she is miscast in the Lestrange role. Then there are also the fan service issues. Between the prolonged involvement of callback characters like Nicolas Flamel and Nagini from the Harry Potter series both goes on too long and contributes little of substance to the story. And then there are potential timeline and continuity issues that make the narrative confusing. One big example of that is the presence of a Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts as a teacher during this film. This would seem to be inconsistent with the length of her teaching career (and thus also potentially her age) as previously established in the Harry Potter books. And that is representative of a larger problem with excessive fan service. Yes, she is a beloved character, so it is fun to see her. But when you start throwing random fan service in there it is often distracting and does a disservice to the story because it contradicts established continuity.
As a final thing, one of the common problems with prequels is that they try to outdo the original films they are based on. This often results in major continuity problems like more advanced or more powerful technologies in the past than in the original films. For here in the Wizarding World, that means magical abilities that either did not appear in the original films and power levels potentially exceeding what even Voldemort was able to do in the Harry Potter films. Now some of that we can rationalize by saying that Grindelwald was more powerful because he had the Elder Wand. But the problem there is that we know that Dumbledore will defeat Grindelwald while Grindelwald has the Elder Wand, and that Dumbledore in possession of the Elder Wand still struggled in his duel against Voldemort at the end of Order of the Phoenix. So there is potential inconsistency here in the power levels. The big example of this in the film is the blue flame wall that Grindelwald creates that is able to kill or subdue most of the aurors in attendance. That is casual wand power beyond what we see in the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix.
Doctored Entertainment 