EXTRA!!-- how did that "ron having a brilliant idea" quote go? "it's been known to happen..."
okay, i did go watch OotP this friday and as the diligent little fangirl that i am, i have to review. now, this'll be a wee bit incomplete since i was about 15-20 minutes late to the showing (my best friend got stuck in traffic while coming to pick me up. so what else is new? >.< SHE OWES ME TONKS, DAMMIT! i didn't even hear her speak... ;_;) and of course the fact that it's been two days since i saw it and i may not remember much of everything (it all happened incredibly fast, after all), so i'll definitely revise/repost this when i watch it again.
now, as far as comments go, i've heard stuff from all over the spectrum. some of my friends liked it so much, they've already seen it three times. others just hated it, mainly because those who have read the book thought it was too different, and those who haven't read the book just didn't understand a lot of stuff. in fact, one good thing that came off it is that now i know that my little brother actually likes this series! i thought he'd always been just humoring me when it came to harry potter-- i actually had to read the first four books to him, to get him to actually know anything about it. however, when he came home from the theater after watching OotP, he was so pissed off! he said he just didn't understand anything and asked me to lend him the book because he was going to read it... which is way better than it sounds because OotP is the first book i bought in english and if he's willing to read the thing in english it must mean that he REALLY wants to know what's going on. i see it as a blessing, really.
before i say anything, i want you to know that, no matter what my comments below will sound like, I LOVED THE MOVIE. IT WAS AWESOME. was it too fast? yes. was it too different from the book? more like completely. will i contradict this statement? definitely. my comments from now on might make it seem like i'm not satisfied with it or that i can't complaining about it, but that's only because i'm obsessive and like to nitpick-- it doesn't mean i didn't like the movie; in fact, i think it was perfectly amazing. in this case i think it's more of a "how i was feeling as i watched it" vs "all the stuff i thought about after it was done" and in this case, i think the former definitely takes the win. i was wide-eyed through the whole thing. in fact, i can hardly contain my grin when i think back to it. it was a great movie.
the effects
well, obviously this is the best thing that caught my attention. OMG, the battle in the dept. of mysteries was simply amazing. i loved the way the order just kind of swooshed in, all ablaze in bright lights. the fight between dumbledore and voldemort was just awe-inspiring. i just really liked the whole foray into the ministry. it all felt very... well, magical. no other way to describe it. i also really liked when they fell into the veil room and they stopped like half a foot off the ground, that was neat. the thestrals were just as i'd imagined them, and i rather liked grawpy. he was cute, much less... hairy and scary than i though he would be. props to the special effects crew, you really beat your record on this one. only thing i recall that made me go "WTF" was sirius' floo call. it looked so much cooler in GoF =P
cinematography
if you've been with me long, you know i've been ranting and raving about cuaron and PoA ever since that movie came out because it was, cinematographically-speaking, so very well-constructed. GoF didn't have that. but now, i think OotP may be even better than PoA in that aspect. where cuaron had a very ingenious thing called "fade to black" and season transitions between scenes, yates was just fabulous at switching scenes from one to another in a way that seemed flawless. i especially liked how something would happen and then newspapers would start flying all over the screen, headlines blaring and fudge speaking aloud in the little moving pictures. i also really loved how a scene would change and suddenly we'd find ourselves in one of harry's memories, that was amazing. i mean, just how cool was the scene with the mirror of erised-- little harry standing there all wide-eyed and suddenly *GASP!* snape walks up behind him and we all start to freak out? that was hands-down the best scene in the movie for me. also, the sequence of voldemort's possession of harry was really fabulous, and unlike anything i could have imagined from mrs. jo's description of it in the book. the images blending into each other, in that disjointed sort of way just made it all the more real.
the pace
it WAS too fast, i know. at parts it seemed like i missed a bunch of stuff-- i never saw this, and i must've blinked at the wrong moment because i never saw lily in snape's memory. i understand why it had to move fast; it was a very long book after all, and a lot of stuff had to be cut. doesn't make it less dizzying, though. at some points, things seemed way too easy. that might put some people off.
the adaptation
it was completely different than the book, and i'm sure most fans will agree. in fact, i was skimming over my OotP book last night and i noticed that almost none of the scenes i highlighted (yes, i'm a freak, i actually highlight my books) were in the movie! freaky! like i said before, i understand why this happened. doesn't have to make us happy, though. they left out a bunch of important stuff, and in order to fill in the gaps, they had to put in a whole other bunch of stuff and i think the balance was a bit unstable (see nitpicks below for individual tidbits). however, to the untrained eye, i don't think it was terrible. the unexplained stuff might just have kept people on the edge of their seats. i smell TONS of deleted scenes for the DVD, though...
the actors
big conclusion of the week: EVANNA LYNCH RULES THE WORLD! oh my god, i thought rupert was the most perfect fit for any HP character-- i was wrong. so wrong. evanna lynch IS luna lovegood, and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise. wow, i mean, from the dreamy voice, to the lost gaze, to luna's general mannerisms, she's just perfect! i loved her, she was just great. "i think i'll go have some pudding": oh, she just can't get any better. imelda staunton was also wonderful as umbridge... her "hem, hem" made me laugh everytime, and i had a lot of fun pointing out each and every cat detail that was on her (her ring, her pin, the cat plates on her office walls had cat plates on them...). helena bonham-carter had scored points as bellatrix for me even before i saw the movie, because she's just perfect for those psycho roles (morgan le fay from "merlin," anyone?). i can't say anything about natalia tena because... I DIDN'T HEAR HER SPEAAAAAAKKKK!! ;_; was she cool? did she say "wotcher, harry"? oh, i so wanted to hear her say that... i need to watch this movie again...
as for the rest of the cast, they were all really good, as always. gary oldman as sirius just breaks my heart, i love him as an actor, he's just so incredible. dumbledore was good (boy did i love yelling out "JERK!" everytime he popped on-screen... everybody looked at me like i was crazy, but i can't forget that it was this book that made me start to resent him), as was hagrid. the other teachers were... there. and WHAT did they do to kingsley? SO not like i had imagined him. here i was expecting a cool, suave guy and i get the son of africa bambataa. not that there's anything wrong with africa but does every character have to be the poster-boy for a stereotype?
the kids were great. ginny had a bunch of lines! yay for bonnie. she needs to really start to come out, after all HBP is next. matt is heartbreakingly sweet as neville, in the kind of "i'm not strong or a hero but i will do my best because it's right" sort of way. i mean, who didn't cheer at his "now that they're about to be avenged!" line? that's my neville. devon murray as seamus really surprised me! i didn't think they were going to include that part in the movie, it seemed not as significant to me, but they did and he pulled it off! cool. my dearest tom felton was on screen for all of two seconds =( but bah, i guess i'll see enough of him in HBP. it's his shining moment! michael corner had one line, sweet. zacharias smith was his usual asshole self, which i wasn't expecting-- i didn't think they'd include him. and then there's nigel. WTF. where did that kid come from? pointless. is he david heyman's nephew or something? O_o because i seem to remember chris columbus springing his daughter in as susan bones...
emma was nice as always, though at times i do get the impression that she kind of overdoes the intensity. dan did perfect as harry-- i always liked this book because it's all about character development for harry, and though they went more for the overwhelmed angle than for the angry angle like in the book, that worked out fine because dan is more of an angsty kind of actor than anger. the character development was still there. and gosh, the scene where sirius dies was amazing, so much feeling, you gotta give props to the kid. i also think he got over his problems with anger, though, because when he yelled at dumbledore to look at him it felt completely real to me. it was good to see ron get a more serious role in this one, because i really think rupert does serious much better than when he's simply being comic relief. he also looked very good in most of the scenes, which was something the other movies didn't have-- my heart broke a bit because he's so cute but he never gets the good lighting, it seems. well, he did in this one. congrats, rupert!
what was, what wasn't, and what should've been (aka, read as cali nitpicks the movie)
_those of you who know me, know that my first complaint has a name: ORDER OF THE PHOENIX WAS THE BOOK OF RONALD! it was his moment to shine! prefect, quidditch keeper-- dang it, they could've at least MENTIONED that stuff! oh, and i so wanted to see rupert in a red-and-gold uniform with the name "weasley" on the back ;_; thank you for depriving me of the pleasure, david yates. it's so not fair! *throws a tantrum* i'm glad that ron wasn't only used for comic relief, i am, but really, winning that quidditch cup was like a MILESTONE, the high point of his life... why oh WHY would you leave that out? makes me wanna cry. poor ronniekins, you always get the short end of the stick in these movies... oh well. at least it's not the mandrake poster all over again.
_i liked the patronuses! though i think i didn't catch hermione's-- seemed more like a mouse than an otter to me. and ron's was more of a bloodhound than a jack russell terrier, but the idea's what counts, right? ginny's was a horse, and strangely i think that fits her, though i can't say why. and luna's being a bunny was just perfect. usagi eating mochi in the moon castle, yeah? xD flashbacked to my sailor moon days, there. someone did their homework with that one.
_poor dobby, they keep ignoring him. first with the gillyweed and now with the room of requirement. funny how they keep making neville his replacement, i wonder if that's a good or a bad thing... O_o
_speaking of house elves, what was the point of kreacher? he didn't betray sirius via floo, so why was he even included? and speaking of the floo, umbridge caught them way too easily, it made them seem stupid and sloppy, which are not adjectives usually attributed to hermione granger.
_there was no mention of regulus in the black family tapestry scene. i wonder how it'll come out if it turns out regulus is RAB in the last book. i won't speculate anything, but it's a possibility and some fans might be up in arms about it.
_did i mention RON WAS NOT MADE GRYFFINDOR KEEPER? >.<
_was that the way sirius died in the book? i know he evaded an avada kedavra from bellatrix and then fell, but it just seemed too easy in the movie. TOO EASY! and it almost seemed like the spell did hit him and then he sort of just... walked into the veil. it was weird. everything seemed like paused, no drama at all until harry started screaming his head off. really, i was sitting at the theater in november 2005 and i remember clearly that half the audience was crying their hearts out when cedric died-- for all intents and purposes, they should've wanted the same reaction with sirius, but i guess it all came out so mixed up that people didn't know how to react.
_ginny had to blow things up, didn't she? no bat bogey hex for the girl, no, she has to blow stuff up. i personally liked it, though it did make me go "that wasn't in the book!" but i liked it.
_like kreacher, neville's mimbulus mimbletonia was pointless.
_they completely cut the prophecy off! no mention of the possibility that it could've been neville, and i can't remember clearly but did they mention the "power he knows not"? still, it was too incomplete. if there was a need to keep one thing intact, it was THAT! WTF!
_there was no mention of the quibbler; it would've given a lot more depth to luna's background, i think. there was also no interview on the quibbler, of course. so people just start loving harry back for no reason at all. of course.
_luna wasn't supposed to get hurt in the dept. of mysteries scene! she was supposed to be the only one that just kinda waltzed out without a scratch on her. ooooh, that bloody mouth scene was painful to watch.
_i wanted to see the brains =( it might've slowed down the fight scene a bit too much, though, so i understand. one thing i REALLY wanted to see was "HARRY POTTER: RESCUE MISSION" (that's one of my highlighted scenes, it makes me laugh like a wacko every time xD), but i know that was too much to ask. it's such an insignificant detail, but i love it. same goes for the "mice in europa" which will never in a thousand years make an appearance in any movie but it's just about my favorite HP quote ever.
_for all of the half a second remus was on screen, i thought the part when he held on to harry after sirius died was really heartbreaking. and when harry ran off and he just sort of stood there... won the movie for me. my best friend kept going "eep!" every time he appeared on screen (she's a remus fangirl). YAY david thewlis!
_WHERE WAS REMUS IN THAT ORIGINAL ORDER PICTURE? i caught peter, he was in between lily and james, but i never saw remus! was he even there?
_awwwww neville's parents! that's so goddamn sad... everybody quit moping about harry's life and take a look into neville's! he's had to suffer so much as well, poor thing. his mother was really cute, pixy-like, and had that air of confidence that i always though she'd have (*SOB* so heartbreaking!! *cries*) and his father seemed to have that air of low confidence/shyness/dorkyness that neville has, it was cute.
_i wanted to hear grawp call hermione "hermy" =/
_i loved yelling at dumbledore as he explained the prophecy to harry at the end. seriously, i don't hate the guy but he really let me down in OotP and HBP, so i couldn't help myself. and it was funny, he was all "yes, harry, you have to fulfill your destiny" yoda-kinda-stuff and i was all "YES! IN ONE WEEK, BEEYOTCH!" oh, i can't wait 'til DH. i'm on pins and needles here.
_did i mention RON DID NOT WIN THE CUP FOR GRYFFINDOR? >.<
_WHY was ginny the only girl wearing pants? the mystery lives on.
_"nice one, james!" --> SOBSOB *cries disconsolately*
_dude, harry was like BALD. don't they know bad hair is his trademark? oh, it doesn't matter, ronniekins took all the hottie away from him. it balances out. and YES, jailbait or not, i still feel like a pedophile when i think this way. and i'm not even that old...!
_and speaking about harry's trademarks, i almost never saw the scar in the whole movie, i only noticed it when lucius pointed it out, but i can't remember having seen it before. funny, because when trelawney was being sacked, and everybody was there watching, harry's hair was all windswept and though a strand fell where the scar should be, we should've been able to see a little bit of it, but i don't think it was there.
_i really liked the "wet" kiss scene, the dialogue was strikingly close to the book. only hermione wasn't off to one side, writing. it was really funny, though from the kiss it didn't seem like harry was too traumatized by the event.
_the possession scene was incredibly awesome. there's just no other word for it. the way the images blended together, like i said up there, in a disjointed manner-- the book didn't hold a candle. the way harry contorted and moved like a snake was just fantastic, so riveting, really. and much trio luvin'... i think that's why i liked the movie so much, really, it was ALL ABOUT THE TRIO and you know how much i wuvv my trio =3 i loved how he started remembering all the little moments when he'd been happy with his friends. so much love for chibi!trio way back in PS/SS-- that "never better" scene is my ultimate favorite trio scene ever =3 =3 =3 though i did think the little flashes of voldemort egging harry on were kind of... lame. the background was too simple, and it looked a bit fake. had a bit of a walter mercado feel to it ^^;;; but other than that, it was the perfect scene. reminds me of how i said the prongs scene in PoA was the only scene that was better in the movies than in the books-- this is the second time i think this way.
_"we've got something he doesn’t have. we've got something worth fighting for." --> wow, and i thought the conclusion from the book ("the power you have that voldemort doesn't is love, harry") had taken me back to barney-land! they were really reaching here, but i guess for all intents and purposes it's the same morale...
the shippy stuff (aka what i'm sure you were all waiting for)
_TRIO LUVV!! <3<3<3 i know i said it already, but it merits repeating. this movie was just SO trio-oriented, i LOVED that. like the book, really. the book was so trio-focused. character development ahoy, and trio luvin' ahoy. i love it so much, and there are all these lovely, lovely trio shots scattered all throughout the movie (the lighting in the grawp scene is perfect!!) so i predict i'll have a LOT of fun iconing this one... i already made a trio wallpaper for myself...
_the kiss with cho was entirely too long. i mean, i liked what they did with cho since they had to take marietta out, it was cool that she was the snitch because she was forced veritaserum, but that scene was a bit too much for me. she was supposed to be a bit more annoying, at least she was in the book. she was supposed to be crying a lot more. and they SO didn't have to show that kiss from every single angle. me not likey that. i know they're trying to amp up dan's prowess in seduction for the fangirls and such, but harry was so much more... bumbling... about it in the book. it was part of its charm, and it was also what made the following scene so funny. the two were running out of oxygen and my best friend and i were all like "OK, enough, this is supposed to be PG-13!" it was hilarious xD though i did love that they kept in harry's comment about the nargles. that was perfect. but i don't get it, they made sure to let us know that cho wasn't the snitch because she was bad, so does that mean someone who hasn't read the book would assume her and harry are still going out? there was no jealousy over hermione, no crying over cedric and no anger over her defending marietta, so why would they break up?
_wow, this movie could make anyone ship harry/luna. they were so cute! awww, i think it was perfect that harry could at least find someone he could relate to. i liked that she held his hand at the end, it was so sweet. luna's a really great girl, isn't she?
_i thought they'd have more harry/ginny stuff, since we're leading up to HBP anyway. i didn't see any, though. true, ginny spoke a lot more but that's about it. i don't know if i should be happy about that, or angry-- i mean, as much as h/g makes me shudder, i think i'd find it almost tolerable in the movies; probably because bonny's so gorgeous and i can't help but like her as ginny. i do believe they had one nice shot in the hall of prophecies-- the H/G shippers must be rejoicing now, one lovely shot to make icons of ;)
_GRAWP/HERMIONE OMFG. genius.
_yes, most of the r/hr scenes were movie-only (because ron DID NOT BECOME PREFECT OR KEEPER KTHANXDAVIDYATES *stomps foot*), and it did feel like they were pushing the ship on us (probably leading up to HBP, which seems weird because there was no mention of h/g), but i have to say, i did like the scenes. they're just too cute xD especially the part when hagrid introduced them to grawp (though ron shouldn't have been there because he was too busy BECOMING THE HERO OF GRYFFINDOR FOR YEARS TO COME THANKYOUVERYMUCH *stomps foot some more*). i couldn't stop giggling when grawpy gave hermione the bicycle handle (that's what it was, right?) and ron's expression was all "WTF?" it was PRICELESS. i was all "yes, ronald! that's the way you do it! you can learn something from grawp, here!" xD fabulous. the DA duel scene i didn't see much of a point to, other than hermione showing that she's pure girl power and ron being, well, ron. the one i really liked was right before they talked to harry after his first detention. ron was begging her to write his essay for him and she tells him she'll only do the introduction, and then he goes "you're the most wonderful person ever and i'll never say anything bad about you ever again" or something to that extent, and she goes "well, at least then i'd know you'd be back to normal." that DID happen in the book, didn't it? i'm not sure i remember. the scenes are all messed up in my head. in fact, when it happened i couldn't help myself, and i shouted "that didn't happen that way! he actually said that he LOVED her!" out loud, in the middle of the theater. then i remembered that the "i love you" thing actually happened in HBP ^^;;; oops. i sure hope people just ignored me because i wouldn't want to spoil anyone ^^;;; but that was definitely my favorite shippy scene out of ALL of them.
_h/hr-- there was just about, uh, NONE? funny, because the book is SO h/hr shippy (lol, at least for me, it being my main ship, of course), but they seemed insistent on wiping out any trace of h/hr and making up r/hr scenes. but i guess that's alright, i still caught a few things. i missed the hug when harry arrived at grimmauld place (ugh, i'm going to KILL my best friend for that-- but oh well, CANON MAKES AN APPEARANCE! at least i know it was there, even if i didn't see it), but she did hold his hand when they were discussing umbridge's detention. no arm-grabbing in the centaurs/grawp scene, but he did hold her hand to help her up after that was over and they were going back to the sirius issue. i do believe they kept holding hands as they ran, though that might be my overactive imagination. also, when they were at the hog's head for the DA meeting, and harry thought they all wanted to hear about cedric, it was only hermione he adressed to tell her that he wanted out. hermione did not appear at all distant in the "wet kiss aftermath" scene-- in fact, she seemed a bit too eager about the relationship to be true. when they were walking out of the room of requirement before the kiss happened and hermione told him "we'll see you at the common room!" my best friend was all like "oh, look at her! she's jealous!" but i just didn't see it. i did think it sort of symbolic when harry had the vision of sirius being tortured that hermione was the only one who noticed; the whole scene was very "passion of the christ" in my mind, but i liked it. also, when harry was possessed that he turned to look to his friends, the camera stayed on hermione a lot longer than it did on ron (which makes me schizo-- half of me is mad at them for making it seem that harry cares more about hermione than ron, the other part, the hopeless romantic, is thrilled. i don't know how to react). and of course, the fact that one of his "happy memories" of his friends was hermione's hug in the CoS movie... which wasn't canon at all, but hey, they owed it to us from PS/SS. it just gave me the fuzzy-wuzzies. chibi!h/hr were so cute and innocent. i'm sure there are other moments that i noticed but can't remember... i'll mention them when i see the movie again.
_there was almost no ron/luna... did they even interact at all? i did, however, catch a few glances when ron sat beside her on the way to hogwarts. so cute! ^.^ he didn't tell any jokes and so she didn't laugh, but she WAS watching him "as though he were a midly interesting television programme" (and i quote) while ron stared back at her from the corner of his eye, wondering WTF this girl was on about. it's love, i tell you. LOVE. i need to get me a cap of that... xD
all in all, awesome movie. so when's the DVD come out?
"no!" said hermione in a hushed voice.
"YES!" said harry loudly.
"HARRY! HERMIONE!" yelled ron, waving the silver quidditch cup in the air and looking quite beside himself. "WE DID IT! WE WON!"
...yes, i'm obsessive xD