Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour: The Review

Okay, so where do I start with this one? A bit different to the normal reviews found here on Living In The Moment, but I’ll give it a go anyway. 

A little family holiday to London with my Boyfriend’s family finally came around earlier this week, and within that trip was a visit to the Warner Brother’s Studio. Now, I’d heard it was good, but I didn’t realize how good. 

I’m going to try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, but just incase I let something slip slightly, I would suggest if you haven’t been already and you are intending on going, and don’t want to know anything about it (like I didn’t), then I wouldn’t read on, or google anything to do with this experience. I went in completely unaware and felt like that added to the experience, I would strongly suggest any one else to do the same! 

We got the train from London to Watford Junction, and from there the experience pretty much started. We boarded a ‘Harry Potter Shuttle Bus’ that took us straight to the studios for the small price of £2. When you arrive you are greeted by the studio, which is covered in images from the films, it’s pretty hard to miss. From there you collect your pre paid tickets (tickets can only be bought online as you have to enter within a certain time frame e.g. 12:30 – 13:00) and then you get the queue and take in all the amazing studioness. Huge pictures hang on the interior walls as well, and a lovely quote from JK Rowling can be seen as you queue. There is also a gift shop (we will get to that later) and a little cafe with a Starbucks. 

You then go in, and *excuse the pun* the magic starts. Without telling you too much, you enter a room were you receive a nice introduction, then are ushered into a cinema screen were you find more information about the studio and the tour. The tour is basically full of the incredibly designed sets from the films, the stunning costumes and props, as well as extra secrets and surprises along the way. Although there isn’t a specified tour guide taking you round, the staff that are on hand are so knowledgeable and passionate about Harry Potter and the studio, that they can inform you on pretty much anything about the films and answer any of your questions. They are also extremely friendly and approachable. I found myself listening in to a lot of conversations I could hear between the staff and some visitors who were asking questions. The tour works as a one way kind of system so once you leave one section, you can’t go back. I would strongly suggest taking your time and breathing it all in, taking lots of photos, reading all the bits of information and watching all the film clips, because you can’t run back to it. Look for as long as you like and soak it all up. 

There are three sections in total, the first stage (Stage J), a studio backlot and the second stage (Stage K). In the studio backlot there are a few more ‘attractions’ such as the Hogwarts Bridge, the chance to grab some food, and sample some Butter Beer. If there is one thing you do when on the tour, its try some Butter Beer, it is not what I expected and super sweet and yummy! I would also try and get as many photos as possible, the staff where always happy to take some group photos for me which was lovely! 

After the tour ends you are then greeted by the little bit of Harry Potter Heaven known as the gift shop. You can’t go on the tour and NOT get something from the shop! Everything is pretty well priced for what it is, so whilst its not exactly cheap, its not a knock off either and everything is of a good, merchandise quality. Having known about the shop though we all knew what we wanted to buy. I ended up buying a Marauders Map and a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The shop was also really well stocked and restocked so there is no worry of rushing incase it runs out of maps or wands, the staff are on it! There was also a huge selection of character wands which Andy and Rach both invested in getting an Elder Wand and Hermione’s wand between them. There is also lots of other bits in the shop, some more expensive than the others, and little bits such as key rings, fridge magnets, as well as cloaks and scarves and so on. 

The whole experience is just something extra special. I think being a fan of the films, the books and a bit of a film fanatic anyway added to it, but I was just blown away. I grew up with the films and the books being a massive part of my childhood, and the films ended when I was around about the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione, so being able to revisit that and the stories in a different way was really enjoyable. The thought and care that had gone into the whole event, making it something special for each visitor. And then the revealing of how the films were made and the sets was just kind of overwhelming really. It was much better than I expected and geniuenly interesting! 

It was so refreshing to see such a huge dynamic of visitors as well. There were holiday makers who were making it part of their holiday to London, famlies on days out, couples, brothers and sisters, friends, grandparents taking their grandchildren out. It really brought home just how important these stories are, and how many people Harry Potter has reached. 

If you love Harry Potter, or even film making then you will love this. It would also make a really great (maybe slightly pricey if you don’t live near London) gift to a Harry Potter fan! I’m already planning my second visit! 

Review: Frozen

Okay, okay, so I’m a bit late to the ‘Frozen’ party, but better late than never and in this case it was more than worth the wait!

I’m a massive Disney fan. I grew up watching all the classics like the Lion King, Hercules, Aladdin, you know the ones. My favourite Disney film ever is Beauty and the Beast. So, I got pretty excited when I found out that Disney were reformulating the classic princess fairy tale formula, bringing it back with Princess and the Frog back in 2009. Admittedly, I haven’t seen it yet, but I did manage to get round to seeing Tangled, and more recently, Frozen.

I didn’t really know a lot about the film before I came to watch it, I’d seen the trailer once or twice and knew the songs from having them sung at me from different people. A few people had told me that I needed to see it, and about twenty minutes into the movie I knew why. It’s one of those films that’s just really easy to watch. At the heart of it, it is a Disney film. It has hugely likable characters, a charming leading princess, and an inspirational lesson at the core, with a happy ending.

The story pretty much follows the Disney tradition of its fairy tales. It was funny, entertaining, enjoyable and just really easy to watch. Olaf was easily my favourite character and had me in stitches for most of the movie. The only thing is I wish I’d watched it a bit earlier, and maybe seen it at the cinema. It’s kind of like watching a Christmas movie when it’s not Christmas, just feels a bit wrong. But it’s the perfect film for winter/Christmas time. I’ll definitely be cracking it out with a hot chocolate when its a bit colder! The film is also really pretty, in an kind of you forget that your watching animation kind of way. It’s really detailed and the time and effort that has gone into creating this whole ‘frozen’ landscape is amazing.

One of the main reasons I knew Frozen was so popular was from its dominance in the iTunes chart. Let It Go has been up in the top ten for a few weeks now, and accidentally clicking the preview whilst looking for other songs has lead to me being stuck with ‘let it go, let it gooooo’ in my head for a good few hours. After hearing snippets of the song and people singing it at work, I was looking forward to seeing it within the film. It didn’t disappoint. I’m not normally a huge fan of musicals, and can sometimes find the occasional musical numbers a bit cringe worthy, but I really liked this scene. It occurs when Elsa flees from her town because her secret powers have been revealed to everyone and she becomes an outcast. In this scene she embraces her differences and plays with her powers, becoming a sassy snow queen. You can’t help but like her and root for her really. Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel, an incredible broadway performer. I think the fact that its her performing the character of Elsa really adds something to her character and her performance of Let It Go is just amazing vocally. Another enjoyable moment is Olaf’s solo, which had me pretty much crying with laughter!

I’d suggest this film to anyone who likes something thats easy to watch, light hearted, and just has good old Disney style morals to them that root back to just being a good, nice person and having good family values! I also really liked the ending, which was a bit of a twist on the traditional happy endings that are so often associated with fairy tales, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone so I’ll let you go and have a look for yourself!

Frozen was the perfect balance of melody, laughter, sadness and inspiration to have pretty much something for everyone in it. It’s enjoyable for kids, and easy to watch as adults. It’s full of Disney’s normal intelligence that still offers something to the adult viewer, without making you feel like your watching a kids film.

Even though the first section of the film is pretty heavily laden with musical numbers (which I’ll admit, did annoy me a little bit) you soon forget that as you follow Anna on her journey. The story really focuses on delivering good, strong messages about individuality, and how that should be celebrated and expressed, which is something I also really enjoyed about it. I think at the root of the film are really good messages about how to be a good person and in the case of Anna and Elsa, a good sister.

Have any of you guys seen Frozen yet? What did you think? Let me know! 🙂

Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Okay, so I’m probably the worst film fan ever. I don’t really find out about new films coming out until a week before, and the trailers that I sit and watch on YouTube end up being for films that are already out on DVD. Saying that though, I do try and keep up to date with whats on at the cinema. However, in this case (and the case of The Fault in Our Stars…..20th of June people!) I knew about Spider-Man. This is partly because I love the first film, but also partly because I am in love with Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. So, for the first time in my life, I actually saw a film the day it came out!

I have a sort of love/hate relationships with Super Hero films, and I’m a bit picky about the ones that I watch, but I do love me some Spider-Man (the new ones though, not the Toby McGuire ones, but that’s for another day…) I love Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of the superhero, and I love the mix of teenage high school boyish comedy mixed with the seriousness and responsibility of Spider-Man. So my expectations were high, but I feel that the film absolutely delivered.

It’s directed again by Marc Webb, who also directed one of my favourite films, (500) Days of Summer, which I think helps with the relationship between Peter and Gwen as well as the comedic elements throughout the film. I also felt like this time there was more character development between the two of them. The film both starts as they are graduating from high school, and by the end, particularly Peter’s character has come on more of a journey I think than the last one.

The film also briefly touches upon the ‘super-hero debate’ that occurs so regularly in these films, which did grate on me a little bit. It wasn’t really something that was explored massively in the film, so fell a bit short, but there wasn’t really any need for it to become a huge plot line. There is a round of news reports that focus on the idea that Spider-Man is just a menace, not really helping New York, needs to butt out of everyones business, you know the kind of the story right? I just found it a bit irritating, but it is kind of necessary to give the film more of a political grounding maybe?

One of the things that I love most about Webb’s Spider-Man films is the cinematography, its absolutely stunning, and the second film is no exception. The film utilises the use of slow-mo perfectly to convey Spider-Man’s ‘spidey sense’ which makes for some absolutely incredible scenes, particularly one in time square (you’ll know what I mean when you see it if you haven’t already). I also enjoy watching Spider-Man fly through New York, and the shots from his point of view are just amazing. I literally can’t fault them, and enjoying waiting to see where the next ones are coming from.

Another thing that I enjoyed about the film was the villains. I find sometimes some villains can be a bit far fetched, like Loki in the Avengers. But Electro in this film is absolutely terrifying. The villains motives are very human, and their evil comes from pure human emotion, that everyone sort of has inside of them, or has the capability to feel. It’s scary! Of course, like the other villains, Electro is a bit of an accident, but I won’t tell you why, you’ll have to go watch it! But the evil that forms from this accident is just unreal. Once Jamie Foxx is unchained, he makes for a very convincing and scary  villain.

The film also nicely ties up some stuff about Peter’s family which is also good. It might be worth watching the first one a few days or so before you go to see the second, I wish I had, just because the film pretty much picks up right from where the other left, so it would have been good to be in the same mind set. It might also be worth taking some tissues with you, because not only is this film visually stunning, but the acting is incredible, and I found myself crying about three or four times throughout the film. I don’t think you really expect overly moving performances in a super-hero film, so it was a bit of a shock to me and my tear ducts!

Overall, I would say this film is a must see, particularly if you are a fan of the first Spider-Man film. It’s definitely getting pre-ordered by me when it comes out on DVD, and I’m very tempted to go see it again at the cinema.

What did you think of The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Let me know!