OotP Review
Alright, so I caught the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my step-mom and three youngest siblings. It was hilarious because we all took long naps in the afternoon so we could be sure we'd stay up (I knew that I probably would be able to, but I haven't been feeling well lately, so I wasn't positive). We got tickets early, but stood in this massive line comprised mainly of people my age. Nobody was dressed up, but there were a couple girls with Harry Potter glasses and there was one guy wearing a shirt that said, "Quidditch or DIE" on the back, LOL.
Because the showing had been sold out, every single seat in the two theaters was taken, and we were forced to sit in the third row in the front. My siblings were okay with this, but then these really tall girls sat in front of them and they were all, "I CAN'T SEE OMGZ NO." The look on Christie's face when this one girl sat in front of her was priceless - she looked ready to throw popcorn at the back of her head or something.
So, anyway, onto the review (or things I can remember...)
So I pretty much loved it. I thought at times that it was a bit slow, like the book, but then I came online and everyone was all, "It was so fast paced and confusing!" so maybe that was just me. I thought that this movie was definitely the most canon-like, with perhaps the exception of Sorcerer's Stone.
Random, Non-Ordered Thoughts
1. Ron. It had to be said first. I am so, so glad that they had a different script writer for this one, 'cause in the other movies, Steve Kloves' crush on Hermione always came through. This time we actually get canon Ron, not a wimp whose good lines go to Hermione. I LOVED the scene where Ron defends Harry in front of Seamus and how when Harry snaps at him, Ron just takes the high road and says, "I'll just leave you to your thoughts, then" or something like that.
And of course Rupert just nailed it. I've always thought he was the best actor of the trio, the most natural, and that's definitely clear in this movie. I'm just so glad that they gave him good material this time around. I still felt that he could have been used more in the movie, but I was very happy with the Ron scenes we were given.
I've been waiting for Ron to shine in these movies, the way I think he does in the books, and this was the best writing of Ron since the first movie. I really hope that Steve Kloves continues this when he comes back for the HBP movie.
2. Luna. It's been said, but I'll say it again. Evanna Lynch was absolutely perfect. There's really nothing else I can say except that. Flawless. And I love the fact that she was a HP fangirl before she auditioned for Luna.
3. The Posession Scene. In the book, Voldemort's posession of Harry was a little disturbing, but seeing it visually was frightening. My sister Christie was actually clutching my hand and about ready to cry because she thought it was scary. I was sitting there just stunned at how awesome and chilling it was. And, of course, the montage killed me. I ♥ montages, and I nearly cried when I saw that one shot of Ron and Hermione from the first film turning around and looking down at Harry as he comes back from the hospital. That was one of my favorite trio moments in the first movie and to see it again made me just tear up a little.
And how cool was Harry's, "I pity you" line?
4. Umbridge. Imelda Staunton was absolutely perfect, another excellent casting choice. I remember my mom kept saying, "They should get Judi Dench!" and I was all, "Eh, let's give this lady a chance" and she was just so good and creepy. I was actually presently surprised that they kept the "I must not tell lies" thing in; didn't know if they were going to show that because of the whole "Harry Potter is for kids" thing, but I was glad they did.
5. Sirius' Death. I know that it was different than in the book, where he gets hit with a (purple?) light and then falls back into the veil. A lot of people seem to be complaining about this, but I was fine with it. I LOVED that they had Lupin holding Harry back and everything was silent. That was great. I don't know if I would have been able to take it seriously if we had actually heard Daniel Radcliffe's howls; I probably would have laughed, kind of the way I did in PoA when he was all, "HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!!!!!"
6. Grawp. This movie actually made me like Grawp. He was cute. :D Though I was kind of cringing when he gave Hermione the bike bell, because all I could think was, "Oh God, the fanfic."
7. Department of Mysteries. I also enjoyed all the DoM stuff. Was glad they left out the brains, but a bit disappointed we didn't get to see more of the kids hurt (that sounds so awful, LOL). Also thought the fighting scenes could have been less Death Eater smokey and more actiony (if that even makes sense.) I would have loved to see more of the stuff with Neville and it would have been cool to see the scene where Hermione gets thrown into the bookshelf (or something). I liked those sequences in the book. Really enjoyed seeing Jason Isaacs again - he plays Lucius Malfoy so well. Thought the Dumbledore/Voldemort fight was pretty cool.
8. Harry/Cho. I thought the movie captured their relationship pretty well. It was interesting to see that they "ended" it in a different way here, by having Cho betray the DA. In the book it was more because she was always crying over Cedric and was jealous of Hermione's friendship with Harry. But it made a lot more sense to do it this way in the movie - having the DA being betrayed by a minor character wouldn't have had as much impact. The much-hyped kiss was okay, I mean, it was a kiss. :)
9. The DA. My step-mom said these were her favorite scenes and I liked them a lot, too. I like Teacher!Harry. Plus, Filch waiting outside eating sandwiches? OMG.
10. Ron/Hermione. It's so cute how all the Ron/Hermione shippers are SQUEEing their heads off saying this was the biggest R/Hr movie. Being a R/Hr shipper myself (OTP LYKE WOAH), I still think that spot belongs to PoA. But I did love the moments in this one, because it seemed to really stick to the book. I am SO HAPPY that the "most wonderful person I've ever met" and "emotional range of a teaspoon" scenes were in there, pure GOLD. The stuff with Grawp was hilarious with the, "You just stay away from her!" line from Ron. Ha. :) The duel between them was also uber hot. The way Ron was all, "I'll go easy on you" had my mind seriously jumping into the gutter. But I really loved the subtle moments, like the smile Hermione gives Ron when he gets his Weasley jumper and the totally CUTE scene where Hermione's all, "That was quite clever, Ron" and he's all, "It happens." *dies from teh cute*
11. Harry/Ginny. I was kind of...um, not quite happy with the development of these two in the movie. There were little moments, like Harry telling Ginny, "Fantastic!" when she conjured her Patronus, but like nothing else. People keep saying that they noticed these jealous looks Ginny was throwing at Harry and Cho, but I didn't notice that stuff at all and I was looking for it. I doubt the average moviegoer is going to pick up on it.
I guess what bugs me is the fact that in these movies Ginny is barely there and in the next movie people are going to be like, "Wha?" when suddenly Harry is crushing on her. At least in the books there's development. Harry's perception of Ginny gradually changed:
Hero-Worshipper --> Girl Who's Crushing on Harry --> Girl He Saved --> Ron's Little Sister --> Harry's Friend --> Girl Harry Has a Crush On --> Girl Who Makes Harry HAPPY
In the movies, tho, you don't really see this. I mean, OoTP was the important book for development between these two. Ginny opened up and actually started talking to Harry and she was able to both be a friend to him and comfort him as well as put him in his place. In this book, they became friends. In the movie we see practically every Harry/Luna scene that was in the book, but not one Harry/Ginny scene. All I really wanted was one scene where Ginny says or does something that changes how Harry perceives her and that the audience sees this. But, alas, we didn't get it. I mean, frak, there was more Neville/Luna than there was Harry/Ginny (but I'll talk about that later).
What I did like was how the movie showed how powerful Ginny is. When she used that spell in the DOM, both my brother and my sister turned to me and said, "Wow, she's powerful!" which made me smile. :)
12. Neville/Luna. So I know these two will never happen in the books, as confirmed by JK Rowling, but I still think they'd be cute together. I liked the short, blink-and-you'll-miss-it scenes between them in the DOM, where Luna's all, "Nice one, Neville!" and the scene Neville pulls her by the arm and they run away holding hands. My shipper heart was very happy.
13. Lupin/Tonks. This review has resorted to shipping, LOL. There was ZILCH. I guess the revelation that Tonks loves Lupin will be even more shocking in HBP. Btw, where the heck was Lupin when they came to rescue Harry from the Dursleys? Was there any real reason he wasn't there? 'Cause he should have been.
14. Dumbledore. Still don't like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. And I actually laughed out loud in the theater when we were given the two second scene between Harry and Dumbledore that lasts for a bazillion pages in the book. It was literally, "So, sorry I've been an ASS to you this year, Harry." "Oh, it's okay...so I have to kill Voldemort?" "Yup." "That sucks."
With that...I think I'm done. I'm probably going to see the movie next week sometime, but I can't remember it all right now so I've probably left things out of this review. Feel free to ask me questions, though! :)
Because the showing had been sold out, every single seat in the two theaters was taken, and we were forced to sit in the third row in the front. My siblings were okay with this, but then these really tall girls sat in front of them and they were all, "I CAN'T SEE OMGZ NO." The look on Christie's face when this one girl sat in front of her was priceless - she looked ready to throw popcorn at the back of her head or something.
So, anyway, onto the review (or things I can remember...)
So I pretty much loved it. I thought at times that it was a bit slow, like the book, but then I came online and everyone was all, "It was so fast paced and confusing!" so maybe that was just me. I thought that this movie was definitely the most canon-like, with perhaps the exception of Sorcerer's Stone.
Random, Non-Ordered Thoughts
1. Ron. It had to be said first. I am so, so glad that they had a different script writer for this one, 'cause in the other movies, Steve Kloves' crush on Hermione always came through. This time we actually get canon Ron, not a wimp whose good lines go to Hermione. I LOVED the scene where Ron defends Harry in front of Seamus and how when Harry snaps at him, Ron just takes the high road and says, "I'll just leave you to your thoughts, then" or something like that.
And of course Rupert just nailed it. I've always thought he was the best actor of the trio, the most natural, and that's definitely clear in this movie. I'm just so glad that they gave him good material this time around. I still felt that he could have been used more in the movie, but I was very happy with the Ron scenes we were given.
I've been waiting for Ron to shine in these movies, the way I think he does in the books, and this was the best writing of Ron since the first movie. I really hope that Steve Kloves continues this when he comes back for the HBP movie.
2. Luna. It's been said, but I'll say it again. Evanna Lynch was absolutely perfect. There's really nothing else I can say except that. Flawless. And I love the fact that she was a HP fangirl before she auditioned for Luna.
3. The Posession Scene. In the book, Voldemort's posession of Harry was a little disturbing, but seeing it visually was frightening. My sister Christie was actually clutching my hand and about ready to cry because she thought it was scary. I was sitting there just stunned at how awesome and chilling it was. And, of course, the montage killed me. I ♥ montages, and I nearly cried when I saw that one shot of Ron and Hermione from the first film turning around and looking down at Harry as he comes back from the hospital. That was one of my favorite trio moments in the first movie and to see it again made me just tear up a little.
And how cool was Harry's, "I pity you" line?
4. Umbridge. Imelda Staunton was absolutely perfect, another excellent casting choice. I remember my mom kept saying, "They should get Judi Dench!" and I was all, "Eh, let's give this lady a chance" and she was just so good and creepy. I was actually presently surprised that they kept the "I must not tell lies" thing in; didn't know if they were going to show that because of the whole "Harry Potter is for kids" thing, but I was glad they did.
5. Sirius' Death. I know that it was different than in the book, where he gets hit with a (purple?) light and then falls back into the veil. A lot of people seem to be complaining about this, but I was fine with it. I LOVED that they had Lupin holding Harry back and everything was silent. That was great. I don't know if I would have been able to take it seriously if we had actually heard Daniel Radcliffe's howls; I probably would have laughed, kind of the way I did in PoA when he was all, "HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!!!!!"
6. Grawp. This movie actually made me like Grawp. He was cute. :D Though I was kind of cringing when he gave Hermione the bike bell, because all I could think was, "Oh God, the fanfic."
7. Department of Mysteries. I also enjoyed all the DoM stuff. Was glad they left out the brains, but a bit disappointed we didn't get to see more of the kids hurt (that sounds so awful, LOL). Also thought the fighting scenes could have been less Death Eater smokey and more actiony (if that even makes sense.) I would have loved to see more of the stuff with Neville and it would have been cool to see the scene where Hermione gets thrown into the bookshelf (or something). I liked those sequences in the book. Really enjoyed seeing Jason Isaacs again - he plays Lucius Malfoy so well. Thought the Dumbledore/Voldemort fight was pretty cool.
8. Harry/Cho. I thought the movie captured their relationship pretty well. It was interesting to see that they "ended" it in a different way here, by having Cho betray the DA. In the book it was more because she was always crying over Cedric and was jealous of Hermione's friendship with Harry. But it made a lot more sense to do it this way in the movie - having the DA being betrayed by a minor character wouldn't have had as much impact. The much-hyped kiss was okay, I mean, it was a kiss. :)
9. The DA. My step-mom said these were her favorite scenes and I liked them a lot, too. I like Teacher!Harry. Plus, Filch waiting outside eating sandwiches? OMG.
10. Ron/Hermione. It's so cute how all the Ron/Hermione shippers are SQUEEing their heads off saying this was the biggest R/Hr movie. Being a R/Hr shipper myself (OTP LYKE WOAH), I still think that spot belongs to PoA. But I did love the moments in this one, because it seemed to really stick to the book. I am SO HAPPY that the "most wonderful person I've ever met" and "emotional range of a teaspoon" scenes were in there, pure GOLD. The stuff with Grawp was hilarious with the, "You just stay away from her!" line from Ron. Ha. :) The duel between them was also uber hot. The way Ron was all, "I'll go easy on you" had my mind seriously jumping into the gutter. But I really loved the subtle moments, like the smile Hermione gives Ron when he gets his Weasley jumper and the totally CUTE scene where Hermione's all, "That was quite clever, Ron" and he's all, "It happens." *dies from teh cute*
11. Harry/Ginny. I was kind of...um, not quite happy with the development of these two in the movie. There were little moments, like Harry telling Ginny, "Fantastic!" when she conjured her Patronus, but like nothing else. People keep saying that they noticed these jealous looks Ginny was throwing at Harry and Cho, but I didn't notice that stuff at all and I was looking for it. I doubt the average moviegoer is going to pick up on it.
I guess what bugs me is the fact that in these movies Ginny is barely there and in the next movie people are going to be like, "Wha?" when suddenly Harry is crushing on her. At least in the books there's development. Harry's perception of Ginny gradually changed:
Hero-Worshipper --> Girl Who's Crushing on Harry --> Girl He Saved --> Ron's Little Sister --> Harry's Friend --> Girl Harry Has a Crush On --> Girl Who Makes Harry HAPPY
In the movies, tho, you don't really see this. I mean, OoTP was the important book for development between these two. Ginny opened up and actually started talking to Harry and she was able to both be a friend to him and comfort him as well as put him in his place. In this book, they became friends. In the movie we see practically every Harry/Luna scene that was in the book, but not one Harry/Ginny scene. All I really wanted was one scene where Ginny says or does something that changes how Harry perceives her and that the audience sees this. But, alas, we didn't get it. I mean, frak, there was more Neville/Luna than there was Harry/Ginny (but I'll talk about that later).
What I did like was how the movie showed how powerful Ginny is. When she used that spell in the DOM, both my brother and my sister turned to me and said, "Wow, she's powerful!" which made me smile. :)
12. Neville/Luna. So I know these two will never happen in the books, as confirmed by JK Rowling, but I still think they'd be cute together. I liked the short, blink-and-you'll-miss-it scenes between them in the DOM, where Luna's all, "Nice one, Neville!" and the scene Neville pulls her by the arm and they run away holding hands. My shipper heart was very happy.
13. Lupin/Tonks. This review has resorted to shipping, LOL. There was ZILCH. I guess the revelation that Tonks loves Lupin will be even more shocking in HBP. Btw, where the heck was Lupin when they came to rescue Harry from the Dursleys? Was there any real reason he wasn't there? 'Cause he should have been.
14. Dumbledore. Still don't like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. And I actually laughed out loud in the theater when we were given the two second scene between Harry and Dumbledore that lasts for a bazillion pages in the book. It was literally, "So, sorry I've been an ASS to you this year, Harry." "Oh, it's okay...so I have to kill Voldemort?" "Yup." "That sucks."
With that...I think I'm done. I'm probably going to see the movie next week sometime, but I can't remember it all right now so I've probably left things out of this review. Feel free to ask me questions, though! :)