First, let me get this out of the way, and just say that this is, no doubt, a good and fun overall series.
It has a few problems though. First of all, the CGI. It's just absolutely horrible. The broomstick animation, in particular, is so bad, you can actually see how the animators went about placing it on the background, and the keyframes are jarringly visible.
The speed-potion running in the 4th Season was also horrible. The speed was never consistent and the closeups on the runners' faces and the overhead shots never matched. The spell-casting had none of the realism and believability of Harry Potter, which was released over a decade before this.
The snake and eagle fight in the last season also just falls apart. The wing animations of every bird (bats, for example) were too slow to keep an actual specimen of the bird in the air.
Even the practical effects were bad. In every scene where someone is falling, you never actually see the person hitting the ground. It's just falling, and next cut is the person on the ground after falling.
I have seen some films that employ this technique and actually make it look good, but in this case, it's just so jarringly fake I could go on and on, but now let's focus on the other stuff.
(BTW, there is just one episode where I think the CGI actually holds up. The Vanishment scenes in the very last episode of season 4 is actually surprisingly good. But, all the other scenes in the episode are crap so...)
Second, the character continuity. This is mainly about the specific character, Ethel Hallow. In one episode, she makes a mistake and learns a lesson. Then, in the next episode, she is as horrible as ever. All the other characters are surprisingly well-written and don't have many problems.
There are a few good things about this series though. The acting, both by the children and the adults was marvelous. I like how they explained the actor changes away with appearance-changing potion accidents.
One other thing i noticed, were the similarities to Harry Potter. I mean, it's almost the exact same story but with a few twists. This series feels like a watered-down, not so mature version of Harry Potter meant for younger kids. It doesn't quite have that air of magic that made Harry Potter so popular.
The CGI notwithstanding, I think this is overall a good series and a definite must-watch. It's got its issues, but its just so fun to watch (mainly why I rated this 6/10).
It has a few problems though. First of all, the CGI. It's just absolutely horrible. The broomstick animation, in particular, is so bad, you can actually see how the animators went about placing it on the background, and the keyframes are jarringly visible.
The speed-potion running in the 4th Season was also horrible. The speed was never consistent and the closeups on the runners' faces and the overhead shots never matched. The spell-casting had none of the realism and believability of Harry Potter, which was released over a decade before this.
The snake and eagle fight in the last season also just falls apart. The wing animations of every bird (bats, for example) were too slow to keep an actual specimen of the bird in the air.
Even the practical effects were bad. In every scene where someone is falling, you never actually see the person hitting the ground. It's just falling, and next cut is the person on the ground after falling.
I have seen some films that employ this technique and actually make it look good, but in this case, it's just so jarringly fake I could go on and on, but now let's focus on the other stuff.
(BTW, there is just one episode where I think the CGI actually holds up. The Vanishment scenes in the very last episode of season 4 is actually surprisingly good. But, all the other scenes in the episode are crap so...)
Second, the character continuity. This is mainly about the specific character, Ethel Hallow. In one episode, she makes a mistake and learns a lesson. Then, in the next episode, she is as horrible as ever. All the other characters are surprisingly well-written and don't have many problems.
There are a few good things about this series though. The acting, both by the children and the adults was marvelous. I like how they explained the actor changes away with appearance-changing potion accidents.
One other thing i noticed, were the similarities to Harry Potter. I mean, it's almost the exact same story but with a few twists. This series feels like a watered-down, not so mature version of Harry Potter meant for younger kids. It doesn't quite have that air of magic that made Harry Potter so popular.
The CGI notwithstanding, I think this is overall a good series and a definite must-watch. It's got its issues, but its just so fun to watch (mainly why I rated this 6/10).