ALMOST TOO MUCH STORYLINE FOR ONE MOVIE
Written: Jul 11 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Excellent acting, cinematography and writing
Cons: Tried to do too much
The Bottom Line: This is certainly a film full of adventure and themes that will make you think.
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| mike.holmes's Full Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
I'm not sure about my sanity. I went to see this latest chapter of the "Harry Potter" franchise at midnight along with one of the biggest late night movie audiences I've ever seen. I must confess that I have never read a single "Potter" novel but I have seen all of the films.
While I certainly enjoyed the film, as my review title suggests, I believe that there was a little too much going on in this film to do justice to all of the sub-plots and themes.
THE PLOT
While the plot for the film is fairly simple, there are several important themes which are interwoven into the development of that plot. Taking the plot alone, the primiary goal for Harry in the film is to ward off yet another challenge from the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient", "Schlindler's List").
As might be guessed from seeing the other films in the series, there is a major battle toward the end of the film between good and evil. What separates this film from the first four is the fact that Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) have now matured. They are no longer the cute little children but they are instead teenagers with all of the problems which teens face in real life. One of the main themes of the movie is the typical "coming of age" dilemmas such as the feeling of isolation, the first stirrings of romantic love, and the realization that everyone needs help from friends.
This subplot is fully developed with an excellent script by Michael Goldenburg ("Peter Pan", "Contact"). We feel Harry's pain when he fights all of his inner demons of self-doubt.
Another major theme is the film is corruption of the education system by those who want totalitarian control over every aspect of the students' lives. While this tale has been oft-told (from the "Good Samaritan" story in the Bible) to George Orwell's "1984", the film does a good job in showing the ultimate futility of such as autocratic system.
What was somewhat lost to me is the development of the concept mentioned in the title of the film. "The Order of the Phoenix" is rather scantily developed although the general idea does come through.
Even though I haven't read the Ms. Rowling's novel, I feel that what I was looking at on the big screen was a valiant attempt to cram as many of the book's themes as the director could.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE FILM
I'm pleased that the three young actors I mentioned earlier have stayed with the series. I actually feel that Ms. Watson is the strongest actors in this group although Radcliffe may be limited by the role he has to portray. As with many films, the best acting is done by the supporting cast. Many of the actors have appeared in the other Potter films: Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall and Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. All of them do an excellent job here but one newcomer, Imelda Staunton, almost steals the show. She portrays the "stick-to-the-book educator without a clue as to the validity of individual initiative in education. Gary Oldman as Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black, and Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, are also excellent.
The cinematography by award-winning Slawomir Idziak ("Black Hawk Down", "Troi's Colors-Bleu") is spectacular as are the special effects by John Richardson ("Aliens").
I have to applaud the effort from director David Yates but I still believe that the numerous side stories made the film less effective.
I still recommend the film although it might frighten small children.
Four Stars.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
mike.holmes
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Member: Mike Holmes
Location: Odessa, Texas
Reviews written: 1255
Trusted by: 361 members
About Me:
TO HONOR TED KENNEDY, CONGRESS SHOULD PASS A MEANINGFUL HEALTH CARE BILL
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