Harry Potter and the What of the Phoenix?
Well, I've seen it. Hadn't planned to for a couple weeks, because Mr. Tater was wary of opening weekend crowds -- mainly annoying children -- but curiosity got the better of me and I weasled our way to the theater last night. I didn't hate it. I didn't even dislike it. I didn't love it, either. I guess that leaves liking it. Though I think it's more, "I liked what was in it, but I wanted more of it and would have liked to have loved it..."
I'll start off a post which I suppose is mainly negative by saying that I adored Luna, loved the DA (especially Ginny's Reducto disintegrating everything), thought Umbridge's meowing kitten plates were hilariously disturbing and disturbingly hilarious, laughed and laughed and laughed at Filch, was reminded of why Alan Rickman is perfect as Snape, had my socks rocked off by Fred and George (and aw, how sweet were they comforting that little guy?), totally dug the Apparition effects, and squee! got my pig snout!Tonks!
But what about the Order?
I suppose considering how much I disagree with the casting of a lot of the Order members, I oughtn't be bothered that those actors were in the movie so very little. But I am. Despite my beefs with them, they're very fine actors, every one, and regardless of whether they're the ones I'd pick or not, I care about the characters more than the actors or the costumes, and I want to see them have meaningful roles in the screen adaptations! (Though I could really really live without Michael Gambon turning Dumbledore into an angry old man!) Because the book is called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yes, the action chiefly takes place at Hogwarts and therefore those scenes are indisputably essential to include in the movie, but the series as a whole is the story of Harry's coming-of-age, and we see that his fate not only affects his peers, but the entire Wizarding community -- the majority of whom are adults. And not just random adults, but adults who are connected to Harry's friends and family. What I came out of the movie feeling was that in reducing a nearly 900 page novel to a movie just shy of two and a half hours, all sense of a larger world beyond Hogwarts, and the encroaching darkness of a war that will affect that entire world, was lost.
Aside from Arabella Figg's throwaway line about Dumbledore having people looking out for Harry over the summer and Mad-Eye's about the risk of death, there never appeared to be any real threat. Harry immediately went away with these strangers who popped into his bedroom, which is completely against the whole point JKR made with that chapter in the book, that Harry was so terrified by the Dementor attack that he was absolutely wary of these witches and wizards till he saw Lupin -- and even then he was still shy of the others. And what about the Disillusionment of Harry for the broom flight, which was a very stealthy operation because the Order believed it was possible Death Eaters would try to intercept Harry? A scene with the potential to have the audience at the edge of their seats with their fingers crossed that Harry would get to Headquarters in one piece was swapped for a visually stimulating flight sequence that violates the very codes of secrecy Harry's put on trial for!
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a director wouldn't look at the OotP novel and see that the Advance Guard sequence ought to be lifted off the pages and included almost completely in tact in the screenplay. It's characterization, it's exposition, and it's action, concise and brilliant. A few more minutes than they made it take, true -- but it's not like people would have noticed, because it's so entertaining and exciting and fast-paced.
Then we get to Grimmauld Place, where #1, it's not made exactly clear just what a risk these adult characters are taking to be in the Order. What about those lines about Arthur, Kingsley, and Tonks putting their jobs on the line? Where is McGonagall? (Don't get me started on how she didn't stand up to Umbridge or get her five Stunners to the chest!) Why, if they couldn't get Remus in the Advance Guard scene, didn't they take a few seconds for Harry to say, "Hello, Professor Lupin?" so that the non-book audience would have an inkling who was that tall lurking man? Also, a line or two to show that he hasn't had a job since POA, that he's living with Sirius, and that he's fighting to protect a society that is pushing him and his kind to the fringe -- they even set it up when Sirius talked about Voldemort recruiting Dark Creatures. Would have bee a great way to to set up Remus' HBP storyline...
#2, why did the Black Family Tree scene not occur at the beginning of the movie? Harry should have known in the summer, not at Christmas, that this was Sirius' childhood home, that it was the last place on earth Sirius wanted to be, and that after only a few weeks of living there, was going out of his mind being trapped there. They didn't even tell us that Sirius wasn't supposed to leave the house, or that the Death Eaters couldn't find him because it was under Fidelius. Why didn't they have Mrs. Black's portrait show (show, don't tell, is one of the first rules you learn in a screenwriting class) just what Sirius had lived with as a boy? Also, that would have been a great place for Sirius to have expressed concern about Harry's trial, and to build that hope Harry has that at least if he gets expelled from Hogwarts, he can live with Sirius, and have a family? Voldemort told Harry he would lose everything -- but everyone else could lose everything, too!
#3, on the subject of family, I was devastated that the Weasleys' storyline was cut. Not only did there appear to be no real life-threatening danger from Nagini's attack (which also wasn't made explicitly clear what had happened), but Molly's boggart and the conflict with Percy are such poignant things in the grand scope of just what's happening to their world and their society. This is what they're up against if they join the Order, if they defy the Ministry, if they fight Voldemort. Yes, we saw risk in the students' storylines -- but the world is bigger than Hogwarts and the kids, and it's the fact that Harry sees families split up and nearly lose people that makes his choice to fight even more admirable. The Order members set him, and the other kids, incredible examples, before they ever dream up the DA.
The King's Cross scene, apart from Sirius giving Harry the photo of the Order, (I loved that he got that furry robe thing after transforming back from Padfoot's form, LOL! Does that mean Remus, post-transformation, isn't nekkid, but rather wearing a wolfskin?) was wasted potential. There's a great point made of Lucius Malfoy seeing Padfoot and being suspicious, and also it would have been so easy to make more of how much Sirius is dying to get out of GP, not just that he wants to see Harry off to school. Again, the Order accompanies the kids because they're in danger, but that was ignored except for the presence of Moody and Tonks, who didn't even appear to be edgy or worried or on the lookout for trouble.
I so wish we had seen St. Mungo's. Matthew Lewis is one of the stronger kid actors in the cast, and his story would have been so much more poignant if we'd seen Frank and Alice in the Permanent Spell Damage Ward, and Augusta being so proud of their sacrifice. Neville's determination in the DA, and his confrontation of Bellatrix, would have meant so much more. (Which I think is really the main trouble throughout, and why Sirius' death doesn't mean a thing -- we didn't see those relationships and fates play out. We were just supposed to suspend our disbelief because we've read the books.)
And where did the Order go after the Death Chamber scene? Why didn't we see the final King's Cross scene, with Harry grieving for Sirius and the Order rallying around him to show him how much they cared? The presence of the Weasleys, Mad-Eye, Remus, and Tonks, touch Harry to the core -- even more than Ron and Hermione in some ways -- and I believe are why Harry is doing as well as he is in HBP. Because he's been healed by this widening world of support all around him. (Not to mention, I just desperately wanted to see Remus, Tonks, and Mad-Eye go all smart-ass on the Dursleys, and Petunia not be able to look pink-haired Tonks in the eye.)
This is turning into more of a rant than I meant it to. I really didn't dislike the movie. I just wish it had been a half-hour longer, and stretched a bit more beyond Hogwarts. I love Harry, don't get me wrong. But the books, all of them, are Harry Potter and.... The series' overarching theme is the power of many over the power of one. Even the last line in the movie was about friendship and standing up together. The trio is at the center -- but this one's not Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army -- it's Order of the Phoenix. And if ever there's a chance to expand on more characters without the constraints of such a tightly limited POV, it's a film.
I'll start off a post which I suppose is mainly negative by saying that I adored Luna, loved the DA (especially Ginny's Reducto disintegrating everything), thought Umbridge's meowing kitten plates were hilariously disturbing and disturbingly hilarious, laughed and laughed and laughed at Filch, was reminded of why Alan Rickman is perfect as Snape, had my socks rocked off by Fred and George (and aw, how sweet were they comforting that little guy?), totally dug the Apparition effects, and squee! got my pig snout!Tonks!
But what about the Order?
I suppose considering how much I disagree with the casting of a lot of the Order members, I oughtn't be bothered that those actors were in the movie so very little. But I am. Despite my beefs with them, they're very fine actors, every one, and regardless of whether they're the ones I'd pick or not, I care about the characters more than the actors or the costumes, and I want to see them have meaningful roles in the screen adaptations! (Though I could really really live without Michael Gambon turning Dumbledore into an angry old man!) Because the book is called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yes, the action chiefly takes place at Hogwarts and therefore those scenes are indisputably essential to include in the movie, but the series as a whole is the story of Harry's coming-of-age, and we see that his fate not only affects his peers, but the entire Wizarding community -- the majority of whom are adults. And not just random adults, but adults who are connected to Harry's friends and family. What I came out of the movie feeling was that in reducing a nearly 900 page novel to a movie just shy of two and a half hours, all sense of a larger world beyond Hogwarts, and the encroaching darkness of a war that will affect that entire world, was lost.
Aside from Arabella Figg's throwaway line about Dumbledore having people looking out for Harry over the summer and Mad-Eye's about the risk of death, there never appeared to be any real threat. Harry immediately went away with these strangers who popped into his bedroom, which is completely against the whole point JKR made with that chapter in the book, that Harry was so terrified by the Dementor attack that he was absolutely wary of these witches and wizards till he saw Lupin -- and even then he was still shy of the others. And what about the Disillusionment of Harry for the broom flight, which was a very stealthy operation because the Order believed it was possible Death Eaters would try to intercept Harry? A scene with the potential to have the audience at the edge of their seats with their fingers crossed that Harry would get to Headquarters in one piece was swapped for a visually stimulating flight sequence that violates the very codes of secrecy Harry's put on trial for!
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a director wouldn't look at the OotP novel and see that the Advance Guard sequence ought to be lifted off the pages and included almost completely in tact in the screenplay. It's characterization, it's exposition, and it's action, concise and brilliant. A few more minutes than they made it take, true -- but it's not like people would have noticed, because it's so entertaining and exciting and fast-paced.
Then we get to Grimmauld Place, where #1, it's not made exactly clear just what a risk these adult characters are taking to be in the Order. What about those lines about Arthur, Kingsley, and Tonks putting their jobs on the line? Where is McGonagall? (Don't get me started on how she didn't stand up to Umbridge or get her five Stunners to the chest!) Why, if they couldn't get Remus in the Advance Guard scene, didn't they take a few seconds for Harry to say, "Hello, Professor Lupin?" so that the non-book audience would have an inkling who was that tall lurking man? Also, a line or two to show that he hasn't had a job since POA, that he's living with Sirius, and that he's fighting to protect a society that is pushing him and his kind to the fringe -- they even set it up when Sirius talked about Voldemort recruiting Dark Creatures. Would have bee a great way to to set up Remus' HBP storyline...
#2, why did the Black Family Tree scene not occur at the beginning of the movie? Harry should have known in the summer, not at Christmas, that this was Sirius' childhood home, that it was the last place on earth Sirius wanted to be, and that after only a few weeks of living there, was going out of his mind being trapped there. They didn't even tell us that Sirius wasn't supposed to leave the house, or that the Death Eaters couldn't find him because it was under Fidelius. Why didn't they have Mrs. Black's portrait show (show, don't tell, is one of the first rules you learn in a screenwriting class) just what Sirius had lived with as a boy? Also, that would have been a great place for Sirius to have expressed concern about Harry's trial, and to build that hope Harry has that at least if he gets expelled from Hogwarts, he can live with Sirius, and have a family? Voldemort told Harry he would lose everything -- but everyone else could lose everything, too!
#3, on the subject of family, I was devastated that the Weasleys' storyline was cut. Not only did there appear to be no real life-threatening danger from Nagini's attack (which also wasn't made explicitly clear what had happened), but Molly's boggart and the conflict with Percy are such poignant things in the grand scope of just what's happening to their world and their society. This is what they're up against if they join the Order, if they defy the Ministry, if they fight Voldemort. Yes, we saw risk in the students' storylines -- but the world is bigger than Hogwarts and the kids, and it's the fact that Harry sees families split up and nearly lose people that makes his choice to fight even more admirable. The Order members set him, and the other kids, incredible examples, before they ever dream up the DA.
The King's Cross scene, apart from Sirius giving Harry the photo of the Order, (I loved that he got that furry robe thing after transforming back from Padfoot's form, LOL! Does that mean Remus, post-transformation, isn't nekkid, but rather wearing a wolfskin?) was wasted potential. There's a great point made of Lucius Malfoy seeing Padfoot and being suspicious, and also it would have been so easy to make more of how much Sirius is dying to get out of GP, not just that he wants to see Harry off to school. Again, the Order accompanies the kids because they're in danger, but that was ignored except for the presence of Moody and Tonks, who didn't even appear to be edgy or worried or on the lookout for trouble.
I so wish we had seen St. Mungo's. Matthew Lewis is one of the stronger kid actors in the cast, and his story would have been so much more poignant if we'd seen Frank and Alice in the Permanent Spell Damage Ward, and Augusta being so proud of their sacrifice. Neville's determination in the DA, and his confrontation of Bellatrix, would have meant so much more. (Which I think is really the main trouble throughout, and why Sirius' death doesn't mean a thing -- we didn't see those relationships and fates play out. We were just supposed to suspend our disbelief because we've read the books.)
And where did the Order go after the Death Chamber scene? Why didn't we see the final King's Cross scene, with Harry grieving for Sirius and the Order rallying around him to show him how much they cared? The presence of the Weasleys, Mad-Eye, Remus, and Tonks, touch Harry to the core -- even more than Ron and Hermione in some ways -- and I believe are why Harry is doing as well as he is in HBP. Because he's been healed by this widening world of support all around him. (Not to mention, I just desperately wanted to see Remus, Tonks, and Mad-Eye go all smart-ass on the Dursleys, and Petunia not be able to look pink-haired Tonks in the eye.)
This is turning into more of a rant than I meant it to. I really didn't dislike the movie. I just wish it had been a half-hour longer, and stretched a bit more beyond Hogwarts. I love Harry, don't get me wrong. But the books, all of them, are Harry Potter and.... The series' overarching theme is the power of many over the power of one. Even the last line in the movie was about friendship and standing up together. The trio is at the center -- but this one's not Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army -- it's Order of the Phoenix. And if ever there's a chance to expand on more characters without the constraints of such a tightly limited POV, it's a film.