Order of the Phoenix
I need to make more icons. I feel I should have a Fred & George one. Anyway... I'm going to try not to spoil, but if you've read the books? There are no spoilers. Things that are slightly different from the book, but nothing you wouldn't expect. So... yep. And shout out to Wes for being awesome and getting us tickets even if I was annoyed with him this morning :P
Yes, Harry is a bit on the emo side, but he has every right to be, and unlike Spiderman, he doesn't feel the need to wear ridiculous black eyeliner and do a John Travolta walking down the street to show it. Thank god. Instead we get some genuinely good, emotional acting that instead of annoying really makes you feel bad for the guy.
I'll start with a few shallow notes. I wish everyone hadn't gotten haircuts. Harry's shaggy hair falling in his face is mentioned so much in the books that the short-cropped hair simply seemed out of place. On the twins and Ron, my motivation is simpler - I preferred their hair long.
What is changed from the book? Nothing that made me feel cheated. Indeed they did a solid job of working in all the important plot points without making things confusing. Some things were a bit short-changed, but nothing felt overly rushed or underused. I would, for example, have loved to see more of the sessions between Harry and Snape, but the most important bit that allowed Harry to see his father as a human being instead of a saint made the cut. I would have loved more Harry/Ron interaction... but what was there was well-played. I would have loved more Tonks and Remus, but they weren't integral to the plot here, so I understand. Sirius needed the face time more to connect with the audience and with Harry.
The young actors are all blossoming. I'm proud to have watched them grow up and grow into attractive, talented young people. Neville's gotten so tall! I really do like him more all the time and was thrilled to see at least most of his subplot make it into the movie, albeit in truncated form. Luna was beautifully cast - a great blend of insightful and trippy and a lovely young lady to boot.
What made me happiest? It's probably a tie between Snape's brilliant but effective scenes, Umbridge's terrifying 50s housewife gone wrong villainy (at times she scared me more than Voldemort ever has), and the twins' brilliant exit from the school. I could have gotten to my feet and cheered for it, but I didn't want to scare the other people in the theater *too* much.
Seeing the climax at the end actually helped me. When I read it in the book, the action didn't play out well in my mind, so the real visual representation gave me a stronger feel for the action of that part. I still say the Veil is an awfully flimsy exit in a fantasy novel where anything can happen, and I have some plot points in mind for Deathly Hollows already - we'll see how that goes next week.
All in all, while it is perhaps not a perfect movie, it as an extremely satisfying movie. People seeing only the movie will get a good ride that balances dark, angsty plots and moments of true joy very well. Fans of the book may miss something here or there, but they'll grasp onto plot points only hinted at in the movies.
It's entirely likely I'll come back and babble more about this later.
Yes, Harry is a bit on the emo side, but he has every right to be, and unlike Spiderman, he doesn't feel the need to wear ridiculous black eyeliner and do a John Travolta walking down the street to show it. Thank god. Instead we get some genuinely good, emotional acting that instead of annoying really makes you feel bad for the guy.
I'll start with a few shallow notes. I wish everyone hadn't gotten haircuts. Harry's shaggy hair falling in his face is mentioned so much in the books that the short-cropped hair simply seemed out of place. On the twins and Ron, my motivation is simpler - I preferred their hair long.
What is changed from the book? Nothing that made me feel cheated. Indeed they did a solid job of working in all the important plot points without making things confusing. Some things were a bit short-changed, but nothing felt overly rushed or underused. I would, for example, have loved to see more of the sessions between Harry and Snape, but the most important bit that allowed Harry to see his father as a human being instead of a saint made the cut. I would have loved more Harry/Ron interaction... but what was there was well-played. I would have loved more Tonks and Remus, but they weren't integral to the plot here, so I understand. Sirius needed the face time more to connect with the audience and with Harry.
The young actors are all blossoming. I'm proud to have watched them grow up and grow into attractive, talented young people. Neville's gotten so tall! I really do like him more all the time and was thrilled to see at least most of his subplot make it into the movie, albeit in truncated form. Luna was beautifully cast - a great blend of insightful and trippy and a lovely young lady to boot.
What made me happiest? It's probably a tie between Snape's brilliant but effective scenes, Umbridge's terrifying 50s housewife gone wrong villainy (at times she scared me more than Voldemort ever has), and the twins' brilliant exit from the school. I could have gotten to my feet and cheered for it, but I didn't want to scare the other people in the theater *too* much.
Seeing the climax at the end actually helped me. When I read it in the book, the action didn't play out well in my mind, so the real visual representation gave me a stronger feel for the action of that part. I still say the Veil is an awfully flimsy exit in a fantasy novel where anything can happen, and I have some plot points in mind for Deathly Hollows already - we'll see how that goes next week.
All in all, while it is perhaps not a perfect movie, it as an extremely satisfying movie. People seeing only the movie will get a good ride that balances dark, angsty plots and moments of true joy very well. Fans of the book may miss something here or there, but they'll grasp onto plot points only hinted at in the movies.
It's entirely likely I'll come back and babble more about this later.