Saying goodbye to Harry

Yesterday I took a trip through to Glasgow with Alex and Gordon to see Harry Potter do his thing in 3D on the big IMAX screen.  I’ve missed the last three movies in the series, so I thought I’d be a bit lost but, as Alex so eloquently put it, ‘All you need to know is, there’s this ugly baldy guy trying to kill Harry Potter. The baldy guy’s got a big wand and Harry’s got a wee wand, but by the end of the last movie Harry’ll get the big wand and kill the big baldy guy.’ Fourteen years, seven books and eight blockbuster movies abridged in a style exclusive to Alex.

My kids’ generation has grown up with Harry Potter. Gemma’s a member of the worldwide gang that read the books as soon as they were published and she feels like she’s losing a childhood friend with the screening of the final chapter. Ross, on the other hand, who doesn’t read anything unless it contains a derivative of the words ‘running’, ‘nutrition’ or ‘fitness’ in its title, enjoyed the Harry Potter films without being too fussed about the added extra insight and knowledge that Gemma had from devouring the books. Gordon’s somewhere in the middle; he’s read some of the books and enjoyed them but, as a bit of a movie geek, much preferred going to the cinema to see the stories unfold on the big screen. And you don’t get much bigger than the big screen in the IMAX!

If you haven’t been before, it’s a totally different experience from going to a normal cinema. I felt totally wrapped up in the story - quite literally - and I really felt, at times, like I was ‘in’ the action. None more so than during the bit where Harry and Co are travelling on a roller-coaster-like ride down to a deep, dark vault (not quite sure what that was all about, but it was to do with getting something that would help defeat the baldy guy). We’d actually been warned about motion sickness by the lad that handed out the funny glasses; just before the film started, he switched on a mike and, standing down at the front to the side of the screen, actually welcomed everyone to the cinema! He went on to read out a few ground rules, along with a warning that motion sickness was a common phenomenon in the IMAX, before instructing us to sit back and enjoy the movie. Some folk actually clapped and cheered – I’m guessing they’d just come back from their holidays in America.

It was such a joy to sit there yesterday with Alex (achieving a personal Harry Potter first by managing to stay awake) on one side of me and Gordon (being an unashamedly excited sixteen year old) on the other, but I couldn’t help feeling just a wee bit sad that Gemma and Ross weren't there with us. It would’ve been lovely to see the last Harry Potter movie all together, just as we did the first back in 2001. But - just like Harry and his pals - my kids are all grown up now, and whole family trips to the cinema are unlikely to happen all that often. Still, the pleasure I got from sharing in Gordon's excitement, pleasure and wee bit of sorrow that it had all come to an end far outweighed any maudling thoughts.

The final defeat of the baldy guy was brilliant and, although we were sad it was all over, the end of the film saw me and Gordon unashamedly clapping and cheering - much to Alex's chagrin - and probably even louder than the American holiday-makers! I've got a sneaky feeling that it might just be me and my son travelling through to the IMAX the next time around, unless we promise to behave ourselves...