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‘When things get really dark, and times are really hard, there’s something about Harry Potter that makes life richer,’ says Emma Watson in the trailer of the much-talked-about ‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’. With HBO and Warner Media managing to reunite the cast one more time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise, Potterheads are all set to walk down memory lane with their favourite wizarding trio: Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley. And the trailer has surely geared us all for an emotional and nostalgic joyride.
With the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary special premiering on HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video on January 1, 2022, the early reviews are already out and seems like the critics found this nostalgic ride to be quite tedious. Yes, the two-hour special will take you back to Hogwarts and the Gryffindor common room, but what seemed to annoy the critics was the absence of author JK Rowling. Check out what they had to say about Harry Potter 20th anniversary special ‘Return to Hogwarts’ here:
“Return to Hogwarts is a long, twinkly, nostalgic love-fest, its main stars lining up to share memories of making the films and, naturally, to say how much they ‘love’ each other (there’s a lot of that). The fact that Rowling isn’t sitting there in the Gryffindor common room or walking down Diagon Alley, with the actors who were children at the time acknowledging what their careers owe to her, seems like a strange and key omission,” wrote Carol Midgley in The Times.
Wall Street Journal’s John Anderson said, “What’s all wrong is the tone of relentless self-congratulation maintained throughout the nearly two-hour show, the actors’ stroking of each other’s egos and the inflated sense of importance everyone gives the movies – they were important, yes, but it’s tiresome hearing it again and again.”
Variety’s Caroline Framke noted, “Depending on whether you’re a longtime fan or a skeptical observer of the franchise, this wholehearted embrace of bottled magic may either thrill or bore you right off the bat. For anyone whose loyalties lie somewhere in between (as is the case for this viewer, a onetime “Harry Potter” obsessive whose devotion faded into adulthood), “Return to Hogwarts” manages to unearth enough genuine sincerity, and occasionally even jolts of pathos, to keep from becoming quite as sticky sweet as one of Harry’s treacle tarts.”
Metro’s Sabrina Karr added, “While there are some notable faces missing from the programme, it’s heartening to see many of the actors come together for what might be the first time in years. Gary Oldman and Daniel mirror Sirius Black and Harry with their heartwarming bond, while watching the Weasleys reunite in the Burrow is truly a delight.”
Screen Rant’s Adrienne Tyler wrote, “Given the sensitivity and complexity of this problem, it wouldn’t be surprising if Warner and HBO Max are actively avoiding more backlash and the risk of having their Harry Potter reunion overshadowed by the controversy around Rowling by doing something as simple as not inviting her.”
Cover Image: Instagram
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