GUESS WHO
spontaneously went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix???
*grins madly*
It was great. They got the pacing right this time -- effects for the sake of action, and action for the sake of the plot, which the movie leapt right into with the Dementor attack on Little Whinging. I watched the Dudley scenes with great interest now that I know he's played by Patrick Troughton's grandson, and managed to convince myself that I saw the Second Doctor in some of his expressions. *snickers* Tonks was great. Neville was great. Madame Bones was great, for all she only appeared for a few minutes. Luna surprised me by being fantastic. I howled, along with the rest of the crowd, at Fred and George's exquisitely timed Apparitions. And Crookshanks and the Extendable Ear! XD And Snape, overheard at the Auror meeting when he just happened to be insulting Harry. Ahahahaha.
Things they skipped (that I noticed at the time): Dumbledore's Howler ("Remember my last, Petunia!"), Mundungus Fletcher, Mrs Black's portrait and the scouring of Grimmauld Place, Marietta Edgecomb, Harry's Auror advisement meeting, Sirius and Snape squaring off, the whole Firenze subplot, Young Snape using Sectumsempra against Young James, the two-way mirror, and McGonagall getting Stunned near the end. Snape and McGonagall didn't appear enough, but when they did, they owned the screen. Speaking of McGonagall, it was really touching when she comforted Trelawney, standing with her against Umbridge. Speaking of Snape, I was a little ticked to see him whack Ron in the head with a notebook after Umbridge left the classroom (what is WITH Snape hitting students onscreen???). Also, the re-imagining of the Snape's Worst Memory scene (the Pensieve is skipped and Harry sees the memory when he accidentally breaks into Snape's mind during Occlumency) makes Snape the irresponsible one by punishing Harry for his own lack of ability to keep him out of his mind, rather than Harry's deliberate invasion of his privacy by looking in the Pensieve. The Occlumency scenes were all too brief, but they were effective. There was this one bit where Harry is thinking of the Mirror of Erised, and we see him reflected with his mother and father and then Snape appears behind them. *falls over laughing* And I was amused to see Snape unroll a felt wand case and choose a wand for the job out of a rather considerable collection.
The Room of Requirement was neat. As were everyone's Patronuses -- eee, Luna's little rabbit! The Thestrals and Grawp were well done, and the centaurs were very effectively hidden in shadow. Fred and George showed up a lot (honestly, I'm starting to worry about their prospects). Percy Weasley was a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Was that in the book? Lucius Malfoy showed up almost more than Draco Malfoy. The Ministry and the Wizengamut were nicely realized. Bellatrix Lestrange has a beautifully wicked laugh.
Not talking about Umbridge now. She was evil. *shudders*
Sirius. Ah, Sirius... you were much more sympathetic in the movie. Near the middle, Harry is afraid that his connection with Voldemort is turning him to evil. Sirius grips his shoulder and tells him that he's a good person, that it's his acts that matter. When this is over, he says, "we'll be a real family." Great scene. But then, during the Ministry battle, Sirius absently calls Harry James.
You punched Lucius Malfoy out, Sirius. You will be missed.
And the wizarding battles at the end -- Order v. Death Eaters, Voldemort v. Dumbledore -- were really spectacular. Again, the effects were there for the sake of the action, and not the other way around. All these powerful wizards weren't having fun spattering each other with colored lights; they were trying to take each other out as quickly and brutally as possible. It really made combat wizardry believable.
More later when I'm not (a) tired (b) tired (c) incoherent from squee. *falls asleep*
*grins madly*
It was great. They got the pacing right this time -- effects for the sake of action, and action for the sake of the plot, which the movie leapt right into with the Dementor attack on Little Whinging. I watched the Dudley scenes with great interest now that I know he's played by Patrick Troughton's grandson, and managed to convince myself that I saw the Second Doctor in some of his expressions. *snickers* Tonks was great. Neville was great. Madame Bones was great, for all she only appeared for a few minutes. Luna surprised me by being fantastic. I howled, along with the rest of the crowd, at Fred and George's exquisitely timed Apparitions. And Crookshanks and the Extendable Ear! XD And Snape, overheard at the Auror meeting when he just happened to be insulting Harry. Ahahahaha.
Things they skipped (that I noticed at the time): Dumbledore's Howler ("Remember my last, Petunia!"), Mundungus Fletcher, Mrs Black's portrait and the scouring of Grimmauld Place, Marietta Edgecomb, Harry's Auror advisement meeting, Sirius and Snape squaring off, the whole Firenze subplot, Young Snape using Sectumsempra against Young James, the two-way mirror, and McGonagall getting Stunned near the end. Snape and McGonagall didn't appear enough, but when they did, they owned the screen. Speaking of McGonagall, it was really touching when she comforted Trelawney, standing with her against Umbridge. Speaking of Snape, I was a little ticked to see him whack Ron in the head with a notebook after Umbridge left the classroom (what is WITH Snape hitting students onscreen???). Also, the re-imagining of the Snape's Worst Memory scene (the Pensieve is skipped and Harry sees the memory when he accidentally breaks into Snape's mind during Occlumency) makes Snape the irresponsible one by punishing Harry for his own lack of ability to keep him out of his mind, rather than Harry's deliberate invasion of his privacy by looking in the Pensieve. The Occlumency scenes were all too brief, but they were effective. There was this one bit where Harry is thinking of the Mirror of Erised, and we see him reflected with his mother and father and then Snape appears behind them. *falls over laughing* And I was amused to see Snape unroll a felt wand case and choose a wand for the job out of a rather considerable collection.
The Room of Requirement was neat. As were everyone's Patronuses -- eee, Luna's little rabbit! The Thestrals and Grawp were well done, and the centaurs were very effectively hidden in shadow. Fred and George showed up a lot (honestly, I'm starting to worry about their prospects). Percy Weasley was a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Was that in the book? Lucius Malfoy showed up almost more than Draco Malfoy. The Ministry and the Wizengamut were nicely realized. Bellatrix Lestrange has a beautifully wicked laugh.
Not talking about Umbridge now. She was evil. *shudders*
Sirius. Ah, Sirius... you were much more sympathetic in the movie. Near the middle, Harry is afraid that his connection with Voldemort is turning him to evil. Sirius grips his shoulder and tells him that he's a good person, that it's his acts that matter. When this is over, he says, "we'll be a real family." Great scene. But then, during the Ministry battle, Sirius absently calls Harry James.
You punched Lucius Malfoy out, Sirius. You will be missed.
And the wizarding battles at the end -- Order v. Death Eaters, Voldemort v. Dumbledore -- were really spectacular. Again, the effects were there for the sake of the action, and not the other way around. All these powerful wizards weren't having fun spattering each other with colored lights; they were trying to take each other out as quickly and brutally as possible. It really made combat wizardry believable.
More later when I'm not (a) tired (b) tired (c) incoherent from squee. *falls asleep*