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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
It's film number five, and so what's Harry up to this time? How well can the filmmakers condense the longest and second-weakest book into a decent movie? Will Harry's first kiss be everything you anticipate it to be?
Well... it's not too bad. The film clocks in at about 2 and a half hours, so it's definitely not super-long, and the main storyline is all there, but what the writers have done is cut virtually everything else.
The book of OotP isn't all that great - virtually nothing exciting happens for the first 300 pages, and even then, it only really heats up in the last few chapters. At least it wasn't as poor as Half Blood Prince, which was 600 pages of back story and only a teeny-tiny amount of current story.
There's a whole swathe of subplots missing or just compressed, but that's only to be expected - however, I think a few more montages would have helped portray the passing of time... because for something that is supposed to take place over the course of an entire year, there's no real indication of how much time has passed between scenes. Only a few small plot details have actually been changed but the modifications made in the film script still make sense, and it's only the super-obsessed hardcore fans who will vocally complain. Well, folks, deal with it, it's a movie adaptation... the medium is different, and changes are required! Sorry, but that's the way it goes. The first two HP films followed the books very closely, and they were incredibly long and boring. The third film cut out a lot of the subplots and paced the whole thing better and ended up being a far superior film, despite being the shortest of the all so far. It was all in the adaptation and direction back then.
If you haven't read the book, or seen this film, then DON'T read on. Spoilers will be mentioned.
Film number five is very visually pretty, our starring trio is getting better at their acting, and there's a plethora of supporting characters now. Daniel Radcliffe still is very poor at emoting - his angry, scared, in love, and happy faces are all very similar... and his two co-stars (Emma Watson & Rupert Grint) take a little bit of a backseat this time as the story focuses mostly on Harry and his bad dreams. The new characters of Luna Lovegood and Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) are acted very well, although the former has her role reduced somewhat. Staunton does the unpleasant Umbridge incredibly well, although she's not quite ugly enough to match the book's description - if they'd given her a bit of a makeup job (body and face) then it would have been perfect. The vast array of great actors in other supporting roles (Maggie Steed, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Mark Williams, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jason Isaacs, etc...) don't get a huge amount to do - but that's more the fault of the story than anything else, and having good actors in these roles does mean they still have a significant impact. In fact, David Thewlis (Remis Lupin) appears but doesn't even get any lines, if I recall correctly. Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) does get a bit more of the limelight here, because it is obviously necessary to show the warm relationship between Harry and Sirius before Sirius's untimely demise at the climax of the film... and yet, even in this moment, it's hard to get emotional.
This is indeed where the film is lacking the right direction or acting skill. When a beloved character dies, the audience should be in tears... (best example I can currently think of - Wash in Serenity). Here, we see Sirius be on the receiving end of the Avera Kedavra curse, and then he falls through the 'gate'... and although the music stops, the film goes in slow motion... there's almost no emotional impact. Other moments of extreme happiness or sadness throughout the film also lack this emotional depth. I think this is combination of failings of the director and the composer - it could have been so much more.
One thing they did get right - Harry's first kiss with Cho Chang and the immediate followup conversation. Not quite the emotional depth it should have had, but the dialogue was spot on - but we can thank JK Rowling for that, it's pretty much straight from the book.
So to summarise - visually impressive, a good adaptation, but not the best, some directorial problems from a timespan point of view, and the biggest issue: it lacks emotion.
7/10
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
It's film number five, and so what's Harry up to this time? How well can the filmmakers condense the longest and second-weakest book into a decent movie? Will Harry's first kiss be everything you anticipate it to be?
Well... it's not too bad. The film clocks in at about 2 and a half hours, so it's definitely not super-long, and the main storyline is all there, but what the writers have done is cut virtually everything else.
The book of OotP isn't all that great - virtually nothing exciting happens for the first 300 pages, and even then, it only really heats up in the last few chapters. At least it wasn't as poor as Half Blood Prince, which was 600 pages of back story and only a teeny-tiny amount of current story.
There's a whole swathe of subplots missing or just compressed, but that's only to be expected - however, I think a few more montages would have helped portray the passing of time... because for something that is supposed to take place over the course of an entire year, there's no real indication of how much time has passed between scenes. Only a few small plot details have actually been changed but the modifications made in the film script still make sense, and it's only the super-obsessed hardcore fans who will vocally complain. Well, folks, deal with it, it's a movie adaptation... the medium is different, and changes are required! Sorry, but that's the way it goes. The first two HP films followed the books very closely, and they were incredibly long and boring. The third film cut out a lot of the subplots and paced the whole thing better and ended up being a far superior film, despite being the shortest of the all so far. It was all in the adaptation and direction back then.
If you haven't read the book, or seen this film, then DON'T read on. Spoilers will be mentioned.
Film number five is very visually pretty, our starring trio is getting better at their acting, and there's a plethora of supporting characters now. Daniel Radcliffe still is very poor at emoting - his angry, scared, in love, and happy faces are all very similar... and his two co-stars (Emma Watson & Rupert Grint) take a little bit of a backseat this time as the story focuses mostly on Harry and his bad dreams. The new characters of Luna Lovegood and Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) are acted very well, although the former has her role reduced somewhat. Staunton does the unpleasant Umbridge incredibly well, although she's not quite ugly enough to match the book's description - if they'd given her a bit of a makeup job (body and face) then it would have been perfect. The vast array of great actors in other supporting roles (Maggie Steed, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Mark Williams, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jason Isaacs, etc...) don't get a huge amount to do - but that's more the fault of the story than anything else, and having good actors in these roles does mean they still have a significant impact. In fact, David Thewlis (Remis Lupin) appears but doesn't even get any lines, if I recall correctly. Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) does get a bit more of the limelight here, because it is obviously necessary to show the warm relationship between Harry and Sirius before Sirius's untimely demise at the climax of the film... and yet, even in this moment, it's hard to get emotional.
This is indeed where the film is lacking the right direction or acting skill. When a beloved character dies, the audience should be in tears... (best example I can currently think of - Wash in Serenity). Here, we see Sirius be on the receiving end of the Avera Kedavra curse, and then he falls through the 'gate'... and although the music stops, the film goes in slow motion... there's almost no emotional impact. Other moments of extreme happiness or sadness throughout the film also lack this emotional depth. I think this is combination of failings of the director and the composer - it could have been so much more.
One thing they did get right - Harry's first kiss with Cho Chang and the immediate followup conversation. Not quite the emotional depth it should have had, but the dialogue was spot on - but we can thank JK Rowling for that, it's pretty much straight from the book.
So to summarise - visually impressive, a good adaptation, but not the best, some directorial problems from a timespan point of view, and the biggest issue: it lacks emotion.
7/10