HP: Order of the Phoenix

ALERT: though I’m not really giving a summary of the movie, there may be minor SPOILERS below.

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Last night I went to see the new Harry Potter movie at midnight in the IMAX 3D theatre. Though I am certainly regretting being up so late here at work this morning, it was a worthwhile experience overall (especially getting to use the 3D glasses for the last half hour. It felt like being in the film!)

I thought the movie was very good; however as with most silver screen adaptations of books (and especially with this series) there seem to be too many important details that are left out. I ask myself, if I were the director would it really have been so necessary to cut out this or that scene, to leave out some details here and there? Couldn’t these characters have said some lines exactly as they were in the books? I can only imagine that it is a very complex and difficult process, movie editing; yet I felt, as with Goblet of Fire, that there were just too many glaring holes in the storyline. I won’t go into detail about these; all I can say is that some moments I looked forward to most simply did not happen on the screen.

There is another major issue that I’ve had: Dumbledore. From what I’ve heard, this has been an issue for a lot of people. I just can’t get past Michael Gambon’s portrayal of the benign headmaster of Hogwarts. He’s too agitated, forceful, rigid. There is not even a hint of the calmness and serenity, the quiet strength, the patience and the deep care and love that he must posess. Perhaps Richard Harris’ performance in the first two films was so perfect that I’ll be forever jaded. 

As to some of the new characters (Tonks, Kingsley, Bellatrix) I thought they were very well cast, most impressively of all Luna Lovegood. She was brilliant. Kreacher was fun to watch as the loathing house elf of Grimmauld Place, and Imelda Staunton did a great  job with Dolores Umbridge (this is perhaps the most difficult character to pull off from the book!) As always, the whole Weasley family shines; all seven redheads are perfectly cast. Will we see older brothers Bill and Charlie in subsequent films?

Maybe I’m too much of a purist, and unfortunately I sometimes let these details overshadow the things that were really good. As I said, it is a very good movie, and worth watching more than once.  The music is powerful and dramatic, and the actors give strong performances.

All I’m trying to say is, ignore everything I’ve just said, go see this movie and decide for yourself.