Jul 15, 2007 16:19
I have read all the books and I have watched all the movies. Come this Saturday I will be at a book store at midnight where I will be buying the last book and reading it. I will sleep when I’m finished, however long it takes. So this should give some indication of my biases towards Harry Potter.
Reading always gives a person their own sense of how things should be in a film. Even when the film is correct, according to the original material, things are still different in my head. Example; in my head Draco Malfoy is black-haired, Harry Potter’s scar is in the middle of his forehead, and the Dementors can’t fly. The first is patently wrong (Draco is blond in the book), the second is debatable, and the third I personally think my version is closer to the books. The Dementors in particular I absolutely hated from the third film. The Dementors do make an appearance in the “Order of the Phoenix,” and I should also add I still hate the film portrayal of the Dementors. This has become a pet peeve of mine as I think they got that one completely wrong.
But they got some things right. The filmmakers fixed the Patronus Charm for one. There is also no getting past the fact Harry Potter was whiny in book 5, and they were able to deal with that sensitively. Daniel Radcliffe has really been able to grow into the role, playing Potter angry and alone without getting too emo about his frustrations. They also got Luna Lovegood right. Hell, they even got Nymphadora Tonks and Amelia Bones right, for all of the ten seconds they were onscreen.
The also decently plotted “Order of the Phoenix.” Often enough the directors of the movies toss in scenes that while visually interesting, are a waste of time and not really that necessary (see “Prisoner of Azkaban”. They generally kept this to a minimum, but the unveiling of Number 11 Grimmauld Place was a little over the top, especially as they didn’t even go too far in the details of the building (Kreacher was excellent to a tee). There are probably a few plot holes, but nothing that watching all the other movies and reading the books wouldn’t solve. I’m pretty sure at this point the filmmakers were using the fact that most of their audience has read the books as a crutch. Not necessarily a good thing, but as I’ve read all the books it does not bother me.
Probably the best thing the filmmakers did for “Order of the Phoenix” however is the fact that they tried to include some of the humour that can be found in the books. The books are funny, but this has not translated to the big screen in any big way. Most of the past humour in the movies was garnered by making Ron look like an idiot (which worked I will admit). Much of this humour is derived from a good understanding of the books; hence why the goat in the bar was the funniest scene in “Order of the Phoenix.”
As well almost all of the actors in “Order of the Phoenix” deserve a lot of credit. Half of them pretty much only show up for one or two scenes and then spend the rest of the movie as extras, if even that much. While not an extra by a long shot Imelda Staunton plays Dolores Umbridge to loathsome perfection. Staunton does everything just right from beginning to end. Gary Oldman as well gets to do some acting in this one getting some real time to actually ground Sirius Black as a real character and make us care about him.
For major characters as extras Alan Rickman in particular does a good job. For the last two movies he had maybe a dozen scenes tops, yet his actions in the previous movies inform his actions in “Order of the Phoenix” so we know where Severus Snape is coming from, giving Snape rather more character than would be expected from his screen time.
A prime part of Rickman’s appeal, for me, is how he plays it completely straight. This is probably the biggest flaw in the entire film series is that bit characters come off as pure caricatures. The Dursleys are one, Bellatrix Lestrange is another. The Dursleys are portrayed well compared to the books but again it’s the visual versus imagination. In writing they come across as funny if hysterically so, but on screen it doesn’t works so well. Bellatrix Lestrange as well comes across as insane (good) but as a dilettante. The film completely bypasses the fact that she is deathly serious about her business. Think Dexter. He absolutely revels in what he does, but he is still serious about it.
The special effects were generally done well, if workmanlike. I watched this in IMAX so the Ministry of Magic scenes were done in 3-D, which was better than I was expecting though it didn’t real add too much to the scene. But I really enjoyed the magical free-for-all in those scenes.
The ending was a little forced but this seems to have become the standard way of ending a Harry Potter movie. All together “Order of the Phoenix” does not let the series or the audience down. Which at this point in the summer after the “Spider-man 3” debacle is fine with me.
3/4 Stars.
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