Singapore’s Harry Potter: Visions of Magic dives into the world of the Daniel Radcliffe movies. With controversy surrounding the pending HBO remakes, fans should enjoy the nostalgia while the magic remains.
By Lee Russell Wilkes
I can’t shake noticing Harry Potter got into Hogwarts solely because of who his parents were. If the exclusive school were a comp in Redditch, would the world care? Like congenital syphilis and the cast of Megan Markle’s polo series, the power struggles of Harry’s world only seem important set against the privileged lives of the landed gentry. Why fans celebrate this parodic class nonsense is beyond me.
I flew to Changi airport and took a cable car to Harry Potter: Visions of Magic on Sentosa Island. My scepticism was only tempered by honeymoon diplomacy. I console my sense of good taste with the excuse that the trip is fieldwork – imagineer Margaret Kerrison’s Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds has been on my Kindle for a while.
My suspension of disbelief almost didn’t survive staff asking who needed the bathroom. Nothing exercises the cynicism muscle like walking the retrograde way through the tat-filled gift shop, knowing the designers didn’t factor incontinence into their plans. I half-expected to be handed a mop and bucket. However, once infantilised bladders were safely voided, we were given a wand glowing like E.T.’s finger. Wiggling it at patches of swirling light rewarded us with some animation and a dopamine hit.
Inside is a tour through familiar movie locations. The wizardry begins on the Knight Bus. Hyper-lapse images flash past, indicating rapid motion. The audience loved it, ignorant of the drunks and late-night ranters needed to make the experience real-world authentic.
The Ministry of Magic is impressive. Its mystical globes emit a pale blue light, illuminating a dark room, while an ethereal ghostly soundscape fills the space. As the Chamber of Secrets opens, the snakes on the door really move. The movie used unconvincing CGI. Here it’s all mechanical. The battle at Hogwarts – the final room – has some impressive animation of duelling wizards and some excellent sunrise graphics.
Those expecting a ride or a haunted house experience will be disappointed. Visions of Magic is a 3D interactive art exhibit aimed squarely at Instagram. Although, you don’t have to be a fan – or a wannabe influencer – to admire the worlds created in the animation and layered sound design.
Potter fans now have the HBO remakes to look forward to. You don’t have to dig too deeply to find online accusations of stunt casting and gender controversy. I suspect these changes are unlikely to win over many of the fans in Singapore who like their Harry Potter twee – and Anglo-Saxon. Such Disney-style reimagining is proven to kill franchises and divide fanbases. If you love Harry’s world as it is, book your trip before the revisionist Death Eaters suck all the magic out of it.
Lee Russell Wilkes 