As promised, here’s Eric’s review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!
| The extremely successful Harry Potter movie franchise, which is something of a semi-yearly event now, continues to adapt more of its source material. The 800+ page fifth book Order of the Phoenix is by far the longest and deepest of the saga, and consequentially it had to shed some serious weight for a two-and-a-half-hour film. But don’t worry, the new Potter is streamlined, focused, superbly acted as always, and possibly better directed than any iteration before it, though not without a few nitpicky problems. “Phoenix” kicks off with an amusing scene not seen in the book: Harry being harassed by a fatter-than-ever Dudley (complete with bling) and his chav friends. A mysterious storm drives them off, which turns out to be the doing of a couple wayward Dementors who Harry manages to Patronus off, but not before they almost kill Dudley. However, Harry’s self-defense lands him in trouble with the bloated, bureaucratic Ministry of Magic, who attempts to prosecute him for using magic in Muggle presence. While heading to his trial, he ends up involved with the mysterious Order of the Phoenix (headed by Sirius Black), a longstanding secret society that Dumbledore created to combat Voldemort, whose existence the Ministry repeatedly denies out of extreme paranoia. Voldemort seems to have been building up a new army of Death Eaters since his resurrection. To make matters worse, Ministry official Dolores Umbridge is this installment’s new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a sadistic hag who maintains a bright grin, dresses all in pink, and displays a large collection of mewing cat plates. Umbridge’s ridiculous efforts to improve discipline are greatly increasing her power at Hogwarts, and consequently the Ministry’s. She becomes the main obstacle in Harry’s efforts to strike against Voldemort. But if you’ve read the book, this will all be familiar to you. This installment introduces two new minor characters. Much to the squeals of approval of every fangirl out there, Harry has his first real romance in “Phoenix” with the softspoken Cho Chang, who played a fairly major role in the plot’s sidelines in the book but who serves no real importance here other than to be introduced in one scene and kiss in another. You won’t notice this if you haven’t read the book, but it’s a bit of an annoyance if you have. Whatever happened to Harry’s “monster”? With how focused on the main plot the movie is, it seems to make sense, though. The distant Luna Lovegood is also introduced here, who seems to have had a troubled past. Like Cho, she is another minor character who was fairly important in the book but only seems to show up in the movie just to be there. At least she’s acted very well by Evanna Lynch: she spends just as much time staring into space as you got the impression she did in the novel. The best new display of acting talent is by Imelda Staunton as Umbridge, who always keeps grinning even when she’s forcing Harry to carve up his flesh. You love to loathe her almost as much as in the book. As for the large returning cast, they’re as perfect as always, though Ron (Rupert Grint) could use more quality screen time. The last two films were already steeped in “doom and gloom”, but this movie kicks it up a notch. There aren’t many bright, happy scenes or at least very many scenes that aren’t cast in drab browns or greys and oversaturated lighting. Well-directed montages of “mind-probing” greatly resemble something out of a gritty thriller or horror movie. The enigmatic Ministry of Magic headquarters is grimly cast in black tile with dark corridors. There are few of the kind of CG characters or spectacles that draw in popcorn audiences; much more attention is given to characterization and plotting. I attribute the reviews being mixed to this, as a portion of reviewers are unfamiliar with the series and just wanting a big CG circus, stubbornly treat it like another big blockbuster-family franchise. Well, you luckily won’t find that here. One exception is Grawp, the Shrek-like half-brother of Hagrid who serves as okay comedy relief, but his inclusion is Rowling’s fault and thankfully he doesn’t get much screen time. The final battle sequence is a masterful display of CG magic and action. Although the style of the films feels like beaten territory at this point, their quality definitely continues to improve. Regarding the climax: there is one thing which may make or break how you feel about it, depending if you’ve read the book or not. A major character (who I won’t spoil, but you all probably know anyway) is killed in the final showdown against Voldemort at the Ministry. In the book, this was followed by a long, dramatic scene where Harry attempted to come to terms with his death and went through the stages of coping before finally accepting it and moving on, with the help of his friends and steadfast mentor Dumbledore. But in the movie, Harry screams, lashes out, and then back at Hogwarts it’s as if it never happened. This is the only major flaw of the movie, and there was little reason for it, it’s not like the scene’s inclusion would have extended the film to three hours. But it’ll probably fly right by you if the movie is your first exposure to the installment. Even with all this weight-loss from the book, the movie never leaves anything dangling. Within the confines of the movie, we have Harry’s romance, Harry’s rebellion against the Ministry and Umbridge, and the major character’s death, albeit slimmed-down versions. But they remain more or less complete. In short, the only problems I have with the movie are the cuts from the book, which have more of an impact than ever before in the franchise. You’ll enjoy it a bit more if you haven’t previously read the novel, but you’ll enjoy it a ton either way. Just know that you aren’t getting the complete story. Because of this, I’m a bit on the fence about whether to call it the best Potter movie, but if you treat the films like the books never existed (not that you should), it’s certainly at the top. 3.5/4 stars Eric |
