HP5
Hello! (waves) I have reappeared. OR SHOULD I SAY APPARATED.
--for I have just seen Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix in IMAX. SWEET DEAL I SHALL NOW FANGIRL BEHIND THE CUT.
(and for HP haters- shut up. please. I really don't want to have to defend myself for liking something tonight.)
Let me start by saying that I was giddy and jumpy and had those anxious butterflies in my stomach all through waiting in line and waiting in my seat. 20 minutes in, I still had these feelings, only intensified and taking physical form-- all my muscles were tense, I was sweating, I was completely wrapped up in every single moment of it all as if I were there with Harry & co. 40 minutes in, I was still this way. Leaving, I was still this way.
This movie was one of the extremely few that have managed to provoke this much excitement in me (along up there with it: Lord of the Rings and Pirates 3 and.. maybe another? can't recall).
What you can take from this: it was "bloody brilliant," as Ron might put it.
And there's no way I could keep this coherent if I did it in paragraph form, so I shall resort to a sort of outline format:
Plot
I was very pleased with how this plot was interpreted and changed in the necessary parts to accomodate to all the movie restrictions. Very pleased, and that's really all there is to say about it.
Characters/Actors
Uh. Harry Potter got hot. JUST SAYIN'
Umbridge's actress was ATROCIOUSLY TERRIFIC (...pardon my Lucky Charms-esque description there, I blame Seamus). I was constantly surprised at just how similar she was to the Umbridge I had always pictured in my head, and she actually made me loathe her more so than I did whilst reading the book-her. Again, I normally don't feel such strong emotions towards movies, because I'm usually the one sitting there going "it's just a movie," but she certainly did her job fantastically well. Great actress.
EVANNA LYNCH AS LUNA IS SO WONDERFUL. I felt maybe the "whispy voice" was a little different, but then it really grew on me. Evanna is wonderful as Luna-- Like with Umbridge, exactly how I imagined her. Her lines were way fewer than expected, but the ones she did have packed an awfully good punch. Just, the potency of the things she said to Harry. AND HARRY AND LUNA OH GOD! I must go on this pairing tangent now-- forgive me!
So I'm a pretty big fan of Harry/Luna. (To explain, I'll just use what I've told friends about for my reasons: I just think the reason why Luna and Harry would work is because they're both pariahs in differentiating ways-- Harry is an outsider because of his praise, his adventures, his legacy. He is loved only for the outside, not really known or appreciated for who he is inside. Luna is an outsider because of her idiosyncrasies and quirkiness. She is disliked only for the outside. And exactly like Harry, not really known or appreciated for the inside. That, and just think of how funny they would be together; "THE Harry Potter dating Loony Lovegood!") And I also, of course, knew about the Cho kiss, so I thought the movie would be rather devoted to showcasing as many Harry/Cho moments as possible, virtually wiping out any Harry/Luna interaction. AND I WAS PLEASANTLY WRONG.
There were two moments where it was just Harry and Luna bonding, and two others where Luna and Harry were with others but had this bit of connection. And it was just..ah! Had me writhing in happiness. I'm not saying "OMG THIS MEANS THEY LOVE EACH OTHER" -- Far from it. But I am saying that at least the director/script writers thought it important enough to show their bond, and for that I am extremely grateful and happy. There was the scene where Harry goes into the forest and runs into the Thestrals with Luna there, and they both bond over two big things about Harry: that they've both seen death, and then they move to the topic of how Thestrals are thought as bad/weird because they're... "different," Harry finished for Luna. And it was just.. adorable. They connected right there, and Harry smiled. And Luna also offers encouragement of believing Harry about Voldemort's return and all that. It was sweet.
Then the second scene is very very near to the ending, where Harry runs into Luna posting the list of her missing articles. She expresses her sadness about Sirius to Harry and holds his hand, and Harry offers to help her find her missing things. But she tells him that her mother once said missing things always find you sooner or later and some other cool stuff that made it so heartwarming and I can't remember because I was just so busy flapping my arms in glee. But just know that it was sweet, okay?
SO YEAH. There was me being very pleased at the fact that there were more Harry/Luna moments than Harry/Cho. YAY THE END.
Ron & Hermione were so cute omg.
For some reason I also REALLY adored Snape in this movie. Alan Rickman is such a brilliant actor-- my favorite scene was when Harry and the DA have been caught for using Umbridge's fire place, and she calls on Snape to bring in truth serum but he's all "I don't got anymore 'cause of when you told me to use it on Ms. Chang." And then he goes to leave and Harry has to speak in code, saying that "He has Padfoot at the place where what he wants is" and Umbridge is all "What's he talking about" and Snape just goes "....I have no idea" and Harry hesitantly half-smirks. Loved that scene.
Fred and George. Oh how they were brilliant in this movie. I was SO excited for the fireworks scene and it KICKED SO MUCH ASS. I EVEN GOT THE ENTIRE THEATER TO APPLAUD IT! And there was also this extremely touching scene where Umbridge had just punished this first year using that quill that carves into the hand, and George and Fred are trying to placate him and stop his crying. When I first heard the crying I thought it was Cho and groaned, but then I saw this scene and I nearly moved to tears myself-- like when Sybill was being thrown from Hogwarts. God that made me sad, too.
Overall
Well I don't have the energy really to go over everything. So I'll just say this: characters? AWESOME. Script? PRETTY AWESOME. Special effects + the 3D: KICKED FUCKING ASS AND TOOK FUCKING NAMES. Plot/suspense/everythingelseyoucanlumpinhere? CRAZY DELICIOUS. And. WELL DAMN I JUST WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN
--for I have just seen Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix in IMAX. SWEET DEAL I SHALL NOW FANGIRL BEHIND THE CUT.
(and for HP haters- shut up. please. I really don't want to have to defend myself for liking something tonight.)
Let me start by saying that I was giddy and jumpy and had those anxious butterflies in my stomach all through waiting in line and waiting in my seat. 20 minutes in, I still had these feelings, only intensified and taking physical form-- all my muscles were tense, I was sweating, I was completely wrapped up in every single moment of it all as if I were there with Harry & co. 40 minutes in, I was still this way. Leaving, I was still this way.
This movie was one of the extremely few that have managed to provoke this much excitement in me (along up there with it: Lord of the Rings and Pirates 3 and.. maybe another? can't recall).
What you can take from this: it was "bloody brilliant," as Ron might put it.
And there's no way I could keep this coherent if I did it in paragraph form, so I shall resort to a sort of outline format:
Plot
Characters/Actors
There were two moments where it was just Harry and Luna bonding, and two others where Luna and Harry were with others but had this bit of connection. And it was just..ah! Had me writhing in happiness. I'm not saying "OMG THIS MEANS THEY LOVE EACH OTHER" -- Far from it. But I am saying that at least the director/script writers thought it important enough to show their bond, and for that I am extremely grateful and happy. There was the scene where Harry goes into the forest and runs into the Thestrals with Luna there, and they both bond over two big things about Harry: that they've both seen death, and then they move to the topic of how Thestrals are thought as bad/weird because they're... "different," Harry finished for Luna. And it was just.. adorable. They connected right there, and Harry smiled. And Luna also offers encouragement of believing Harry about Voldemort's return and all that. It was sweet.
Then the second scene is very very near to the ending, where Harry runs into Luna posting the list of her missing articles. She expresses her sadness about Sirius to Harry and holds his hand, and Harry offers to help her find her missing things. But she tells him that her mother once said missing things always find you sooner or later and some other cool stuff that made it so heartwarming and I can't remember because I was just so busy flapping my arms in glee. But just know that it was sweet, okay?
SO YEAH. There was me being very pleased at the fact that there were more Harry/Luna moments than Harry/Cho. YAY THE END.
Overall