Wort Report Double Feature: ‘Captain America’ and ‘Harry Potter’

And we’re back. It’d be no understatement to say that the last month was the busiest 31 days of my life, and after three weddings and my first-ever trip to San Diego for Comic-Con International I’ve been more than a little worn out. All that being said, The Wort Report is officially back as my life approaches something resembling normalcy.

With all of my traveling in July my free time was fairly limited, but I actually did manage to make it to the multiplex to check out Captain America: The First Avenger as well as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Now, I’m more than aware that most of you geeks out there have seen both of these flicks, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to revive The Wort Report by weighing in on both of these blockbusters.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel Studios strikes again. Not only does director Joe Johnston’s film work as a standalone World War II-era superhero epic, but it does an amazing job setting the stage for next summer’s Avengers team-up flick. Chris Evans makes Steve Rogers a hero we honestly want to root for, and the film maintains a 1940s serial-esque sense of swashbuckling adventure that sets it apart from Marvel Studios’ other franchises, namely Iron Man, Thor and The Incredible Hulk.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
This was another highly anticipated film that lived up to the hype, wonderfully capping off a series I never thought I’d enjoy as much as I do. Throughout the years, I’ve really appreciated how these movies—much like the books—evolved from kiddie fare into mature dark fantasy that rivals even Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy in its scope.

This second half of Harry’s final adventure hits all of the right emotional notes, largely thanks to superb directing by series veteran David Yates. I’m not crazy about the way the epilogue was handled (Potter and his friends don’t age much in 19 years, do they?), but the film otherwise succeeds as a proper send-off for characters we’ve all grown up with over the past decade.

DC Just Got More Entertaining

Not to be outdone by last week’s news that Disney is acquiring Marvel Entertainment, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. announced on September 9 the creation of DC Entertainment, which will improve promotion of the DC Comics brand and its characters through Warner Bros. films, television, video games and merchandising. Essentially, this newly formed subsidiary ensures that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other DC luminaries in the near future.

Diane Nelson will serve as president of DC Entertainment, segueing from her post as president of Warner Premiere, the production arm responsible for such stellar direct-to-DVD animated DC films as Justice League: New Frontier and Wonder Woman. Nelson, who oversees Warner Bros.’ wildly successful Harry Potter movie franchise, will report directly to Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov. Former DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz will serve as writer, contributing editor and overall consultant at DC Entertainment.

Like the Disney/Marvel deal before it, I view the creation of DC Entertainment as beneficial to the comic book industry as a whole. Aside from Batman, Warner Bros. hasn’t been able to fully capitalize on other DC properties as of late. The Superman movie series stalled after 2006’s Superman Returns, while a big-screen Wonder Woman adaptation has never managed to get off the ground. These are iconic characters that deserve the proper cinematic treatment, and there’s no reason why a modern Superman film couldn’t be just as good—or as well received—as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

“The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort,” Nelson said in a statement. “DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.”

Film projects in development at Warner Bros. Entertainment include Jonah Hex, starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich; The Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds; and Lobo, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Latest Harry Potter Sequel Breaks Midnight Sales Record

Muggles rejoice! The sixth chapter in the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, earned a record-breaking $22.2 million in midnight ticket sales on July 15, the Los Angeles Times reports.

I came into the whole Harry Potter phenomenon relatively late. I didn’t really get interested the movies until Prisoner of Azkaban hit theaters in 2004, and it wasn’t until the final book was released in the summer of 2007 that I actually read the series.

That said, I think Harry Potter—in book and movie form—is a great example of approachable fantasy storytelling. While the mythos hardly rivals that of J.R.R. Tolkien’s more complex Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.K. Rowling has crafted an appealing fantasy world that both children and adults can appreciate. Plus, it’s really hard not to respect something that’s getting millions of young people around the world hooked on reading. That makes it the best kind of gateway drug.