Magic!
Written: Jul 18 '07 (Updated Apr 05 '08)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Excellent cast, music, FX, sets, good script...
Cons: ... though a longer film_to allow more_plot elements /character development would have been nice!
The Bottom Line: I wasn't all that impressed with the last Harry Potter movie, but I loved every minute of this one.
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| captaind's Full Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
Even while I was reading the book, I felt that Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix would have worked better as a film - and I was right! The previous film, Goblet of Fire was okay but really didn't do much for me. This one though was superb in almost every department, and I loved it.
The basic premise is that a certain "Dark Lord" called Voldemort - though almost none are willing to say that name out loud - is at large again. Very few people are willing to believe this however, and the new Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is especially unwilling to accept this as he suspects a plot by the chief proponent getting ready for way - Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry - of plotting to take his job. His paranoia leads to the introduction of a new teacher at the school (attended by Harry Potter and chums) of Delores Umbridge, who is soon trying to make sure that everything in the school is "Ministry-Approved". Naturally this isn't going to be any help to anyone with Voldemort attacks, so desperate measures must be taken…
To anyone who’s seen even one of the previous films (actually I've only seen one so far myself), the majority of the cast will be instantly recognisable. It has to be said that almost all of the cast members are perfect in their roles - the only two I'm not quite convinced about are Emily Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. It's not that they are bad, and they do have a certain chemistry going on that adds to the comic effect of their rows, but they just don't quite fit the image of the characters that I had from the books. This, of course, could just be me… (it normally is!!)
Matthew Lewis again does a brilliant job as Neville Longbottom, whose history is alluded to here more than before. I absolutely loved Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, the rather strange schoolgirl who seems to be dreaming most of the time - she captures the character from the book perfectly. Her soft Irish accent also fits in with the character wonderfully.
Among the adult cast Michael Gambon does a good job as Dumbledore, Alan Rickman as Serverus Snape seems even more nasty as an (apparently?) good guy, and Gary Oldman as the falsely-labelled mass murderer Sirius Black is good. Maggie Smith is perfectly cast as Minerva McGonagall, while newcomer to the series Imelda Staunton has a lot of fun as the repulsive Delores Umbridge. It was nice to see Robert Hardy take to the screen again as Cornelius Fudge. Most of the other adults don't get much screen time, though Robbie Coltrane as the huge Gameskeeper Hagrid and Mark Williams as Mr Weasley leave an impression despite this. Brendan Gleeson who plays Moody, is again enormous fun to watch. Jason Isaacs emanates evil as Lucius Malfoy. There’s also Julie Walters as kindly Mrs Weasley, and … well, more than can really be mentioned in one paragraph! Then there’s the small matter of Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort…
Of course much hinges on Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, and the young man gives a very powerful performance here. He will probably never be as famous for anything else as for playing Harry Potter, but considering the strength of his acting ability, I don't think he'll have any trouble landing parts once the last HP film is done.
There are a few things missed out from the book and a couple of characters particularly, grumpy house-elf “Kreacher“ (Timothy Bateson and a lot of CGI!) and young evil-fighter Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena - Ellie from About A Boy - though I wouldn‘t have realised without looking up who she was!) aren't given much to do, which is a bit of a shame. I have a feeling that Kreacher just seemed too much like Gollum from Lord of the Rings for them to want to give him much screentime.
If anything the only real fault with the film is that it could have done with being a bit longer. However I think they managed to get the right balance between the film being understandable enough for those who hadn't read the book, while making those of us who had happy as well. The love triangle that will develop in the next film between Harry, Cho, and Ginny is subtly set up with a few short longing / glowering looks by Ginny (Bonnie Wright). The sequence of Fred & George making their grand exit from Hogwarts is very nicely done.
In terms of production values, I can't fault the film in any way. The music was great, the special effects tremendous, and the sets superb. There are a few things that could be found fault with but I think very few will dislike it - perhaps some hardcore fans of the book who aren’t happy with the amount of detail that has been left out. To be honest I wasn’t thrilled with the book (only the last section really held my interest), so maybe that’s why I enjoyed the movie much more. At any rate, this was easily one of the most entertaining films of the year so far. It finds the right balance between being a good film for those who have seen earlier films, those who haven’t, those who’ve read the books, and those who (wait for it….) haven’t. You can’t please all the people all of the time, as someone (probably famous but I forget who it was) once said, but this movie certainly will please most of the people most of the time.
Enough rambling - review ends!
(Links start…)
Harry Potter Links
BOOKS:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
FILMS:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Recommended:
Yes
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