Harry Potter. Seven movies are to be eight with the seventh split into two parts. Multimillion dollar budgets and enormous promotion. Yet we have two decent family movies (1 & 2) and then two more adult themed movies (3 & 4), both mediocre and then the travesty that was number 5. And judging by the trailer for the sixth one I hold out no hope for an improved movie experience. The main dilemma is Daniel Radcliffe sucks so hard that it is painful to watch his whimpering and pathetic character that is so different from the book's dynamic and powerful hero. Then the problem of there being four different directors for the five movies. No continuity and rushed and cut out scenes make the films damn near impossible to understand (the fifth instalment being the prime example). David Yates incompetent effort for ORder of the Bloody Phoenix somehow got him the concluding films, Warner Bros obviously care more about the money rolling in than the quality of the product. So it occurs to me that the other massive series for young people and adults, Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz, has only managed to grasp a $40mil budget for Stormbreaker or Operation Stormbreaker as it is known in the USA. It actually wasn't that bade and I have watched it three times. It is too short and the love interest is needless but on the whole not a bad job considering it is the weakest of the series. When I remember the iconic and fantastic scenes from the series I just cannot fathom how they have not been snapped up by someone. IMDB says that Point Blanc is in development but there is very little to go on. Certainly not like Harry Potter which is surrounded by hilariously over the top hype and praise despite the debacle that the series is and how it even destroyed the books and Harry for me until I read the seventh one again recently. I will see the sixth one but it is highly doubtful that I will go to the cinema as it is a waste of money. DVD or a cheap cinema ticket will be the only options. I remember going to see the third one for about £12 (sorry not sure about the conversion but it's a lot) and coming out pissed off at how the last half hour was botched and thrown together in the haphazard method that has become a trademark of the series. Lets be honest here, these films will not stand the test of time. LOTR, Back To The Future, Rocky (not 5), Indiana Jones, Star Wars...etc these are the collections for all the family to watch together and laugh, jump and cry to. Harry Potter is a phenomenal series of books that should have stayed that way. Where was I? Oh yes in the next few paragraphs I'm just going to discuss the brilliance of Alex Rider and why he is a hero who we can all love like Bourne, John McClane, Rambo etc. The books are jammed full of gritty action, great dialogue and terrific gadgets that James Bond lost on the way to Quantum of Solace (mind you he lost a lot more than that...the plot!). That was harsh but true. Anyway if you haven't read the series, do so now, you will not be disappointed. I have ranted slightly here but these are truths which have to be said.
Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
Stormbreaker - Yes it's been made but despite it not being bad it didn't have the money thrown at it that Harry Potter had. And Alex Rider would make much better and exciting movies than Potter. Wand fighting in a book is great but on screen it sucks, just an array of lights and sparks.
Point Blanc - Superb opening, exhilarating finale of Rider snowboarding down the Alps on an ironing board and a healthy dosage of humorous one-liners.
Skeleton Key - No not the Hudosn horror but a brilliant action thriller starting at SW19 Wimbledon Championships involving Chinese Triads to California and drugs raid on a boat with Alex once more being the saviour and then to Cuba where a tyrannical ex Soviet plans to take over the world by maiing Russia a massive superpower. Oh and it finishes in Murmansk with a nail-biting finale involving a 7ft terrorist with brute strength. Add to the mix Alex's first love interest in the shape of a fesity Sabina Pleasure (not the dull one in Stormbreaker) and you have a top class action flick.
Eagle Strike - Nuclear weapons, an evil pop star intent on destroying the world's drugs supply but also taking out half the world at the same time and a betrayal of trust from MI6. Alex Rider becomes a lone and darker character with a superb scene in a bull ring and hjis first meeting with Yassen Gregorovitch (his parents killer). Also a devastating finale.
Scorpia - The worlds largest terrorist organisation plans a horrific and shattering plot to cause catastrophe in London. Rider will turn against MI6 but then finds himself in a situation where we see the real Alex. Endless potential for a movie including one of the most stunningly cinematically possible climaxes in cinema involving a crazed assassin, Alex and a hot-air balloon...oh and the future of London depends on him.
Ark Angel - Space travel, a tightrope walk to escape a burning building and Alex's second outing with the CIA. This book is perfect for Spielberg with its space theme and more action orientated script.
Snakehead - The toughest and most brutal book yet. Thailand and Australia are the key settings for this one and we will see Alex experience excruciating pain, squalor and learn the most devastating truth that will change him forever, yes that is predictable and cliched but seriously these books are awesome and deserve to be made. The possibilities and potential that these texts possess destroy Harry Potter's wishy washy and dull angst. If someone can translate these books to screen then we have seven top class action flicks on our hands. I like to think of Rider as a young Bourne and in Snakehead see a incredibly hardened Alex that will use anything within his grasp to win. Oh and Snakehead has an astonishing White water rafting sequence as well as a brilliant escape from a hospital/jail that leaves you laughing with relish.
My passion for these movies to be made is gigantic and I hope one day I will be able to see this article come true. It is criminal that something as average and boring as the Harry Potter films get made and this stays on the page. JK Rowling's books are better left off on the paper but Rider has so much potential to jump onto the big screen. It is time for Paramount or someone to come and challenge Warner and say here is a product that will entertain and be remembered something Potter will never do. That is all for now but I will update you on anything that happens with the situation, fingers crossed...
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