Completely Satisfied
I only have about three hours of sleep in me and yet, I don't seem to care. This is extremely odd, as I am one for tons of sleep and get kind of cranky if I haven't had enough. However, last night was the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. And since I am satisfied and don't seem to care that I will have to take a short nap today to make up for sleep lost, I obviously enjoyed the movie. And since I am a kind person (at least I like to think so), I will put my comments about the movie behind a cut, so if you have not seen it then you won't get spoilers. Because there will be spoilers, trust me on this.
First off, the cinematography of the movie was simply beautiful. When Dudley and Harry are running through the park and it's being shot with a handheld camera that is jostling and moving as the camera operator is running behind Dudley and Harry, it's absolutely amazing. It is really like you are there. Simply fantastic. The shots that Yates and the DP came up with were astouding. There were shots from angles that I had never thought of before. Mind blowing. They also added in clips/frames/shots from the previous four movies in all the right places.
The Minsitry and the fountain were exactly what I pictured them to be. I was so excited to see what I had envisioned in my head on screen. It made it that much better. The Hall of Prophecies was beautiful and the Veil was better than what I had imagined. The castle was wonderful as always and the park that begins the movie was perfect. It was so desolate and sad that it mirrored Harry's emotions to a tee. Phenomenal. The Dementors were scary as all hell. Their robes were wisps of what they once were and their 'faces' were scarier than in the third movie.
The new additions to the cast: Imelda Staunton, as Professor Umbridge, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Evanna Lynch, as Luna Lovegood, were perfect. Lynch as Luna was spot on. She was spacey enough, yet sane enough, and only slightly annoying in a kind of endearing way. But Staunton as Umbridge made my skin crawl. She was the perfect amount of creepy and sweet. Her twitches and spasms when things were going her way were brilliant. Bonham Carter as Bellatrix was fantastic! Her laugh was creepy and frightening every time it was heard.
The returning cast was, of course, phenomenal as always. Alan Rickman put up a wonderful show as Snape. Maggie Smith was wonderful with Emma Thompson. And David Bradley was more brilliant than ever. I again wished for Gary Oldman to be my godfather or uncle, and Oliver and James Phelps as the Weasley twins just keep getting better and better. However, it was really Dan who stole the show. I had to remember going in that I had seen him in Equus after he had wrapped the movie, so I was hoping that Equus wasn't a fluke. And, my God, it wasn't.
When did this kid learn to act? When did he get so good? Was I just not paying attention? I mean, come on. When Harry and Sirius are in front of the Black Family Tree and they are having a discussion, Harry says "I just feel so angry, all the time." The look on Dan's face, one mixed with guilt, sadness, and anger, was perfect. When he is talking to Dumbledore after Sirius is killed, he says that Dumbledore doesn't understand what he was going through. Now, in the books he is yelling at Dumbledore and throwing things around. But in the movie, he just sits there calmly (as calmly as one can be) and says in this almost pathetic and pleading voice that Dumbledore doesn't understand. That was what made me cry. And earlier, in Dumbledore's office after Mr. Weasley has been attacked, Dumbledore won't look at Harry. Dan yells "Look at me!" It was so jarring and so desperate and filled with anger that I might have gasped. I think I did. The gasp was promptly followed by a satisfied "YES!" That kid got SO good. There's more I could write but I would be quoting almost the entire movie.
Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were fantastic as well. Rupert more so but Emma was good as well.
There were some parts that I wasn't a huge fan of, but I won't talk about them here as I want to keep the satisfied image of the movie in my head. Once I let it settle into my brain and see it again, I'll criticize more. Or maybe I won't. Just depends on how I feel.
I'll probably end up seeing this again and again.
First off, the cinematography of the movie was simply beautiful. When Dudley and Harry are running through the park and it's being shot with a handheld camera that is jostling and moving as the camera operator is running behind Dudley and Harry, it's absolutely amazing. It is really like you are there. Simply fantastic. The shots that Yates and the DP came up with were astouding. There were shots from angles that I had never thought of before. Mind blowing. They also added in clips/frames/shots from the previous four movies in all the right places.
The Minsitry and the fountain were exactly what I pictured them to be. I was so excited to see what I had envisioned in my head on screen. It made it that much better. The Hall of Prophecies was beautiful and the Veil was better than what I had imagined. The castle was wonderful as always and the park that begins the movie was perfect. It was so desolate and sad that it mirrored Harry's emotions to a tee. Phenomenal. The Dementors were scary as all hell. Their robes were wisps of what they once were and their 'faces' were scarier than in the third movie.
The new additions to the cast: Imelda Staunton, as Professor Umbridge, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Evanna Lynch, as Luna Lovegood, were perfect. Lynch as Luna was spot on. She was spacey enough, yet sane enough, and only slightly annoying in a kind of endearing way. But Staunton as Umbridge made my skin crawl. She was the perfect amount of creepy and sweet. Her twitches and spasms when things were going her way were brilliant. Bonham Carter as Bellatrix was fantastic! Her laugh was creepy and frightening every time it was heard.
The returning cast was, of course, phenomenal as always. Alan Rickman put up a wonderful show as Snape. Maggie Smith was wonderful with Emma Thompson. And David Bradley was more brilliant than ever. I again wished for Gary Oldman to be my godfather or uncle, and Oliver and James Phelps as the Weasley twins just keep getting better and better. However, it was really Dan who stole the show. I had to remember going in that I had seen him in Equus after he had wrapped the movie, so I was hoping that Equus wasn't a fluke. And, my God, it wasn't.
When did this kid learn to act? When did he get so good? Was I just not paying attention? I mean, come on. When Harry and Sirius are in front of the Black Family Tree and they are having a discussion, Harry says "I just feel so angry, all the time." The look on Dan's face, one mixed with guilt, sadness, and anger, was perfect. When he is talking to Dumbledore after Sirius is killed, he says that Dumbledore doesn't understand what he was going through. Now, in the books he is yelling at Dumbledore and throwing things around. But in the movie, he just sits there calmly (as calmly as one can be) and says in this almost pathetic and pleading voice that Dumbledore doesn't understand. That was what made me cry. And earlier, in Dumbledore's office after Mr. Weasley has been attacked, Dumbledore won't look at Harry. Dan yells "Look at me!" It was so jarring and so desperate and filled with anger that I might have gasped. I think I did. The gasp was promptly followed by a satisfied "YES!" That kid got SO good. There's more I could write but I would be quoting almost the entire movie.
Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were fantastic as well. Rupert more so but Emma was good as well.
There were some parts that I wasn't a huge fan of, but I won't talk about them here as I want to keep the satisfied image of the movie in my head. Once I let it settle into my brain and see it again, I'll criticize more. Or maybe I won't. Just depends on how I feel.
I'll probably end up seeing this again and again.