Ok, let it be known… I am a Harry Potter fan. I love the books…and the movies. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the 5^th movie in the Harry Potter series, and because I’m a huge fan of the books, it is really hard for me to separate the books from the movie. But, that notwithstanding, I did like this movie. I’m not sure it was the THE best of the franchise, but it was top 2, for sure.

For starters, the acting was actually pretty good. Daniel Radcliffe is starting to come into his own, and the supporting cast was better than in the previous films. Now, don’t get me wrong, no one from this film will be nominated for an Oscar (or even a Golden Globe), but it was fairly good, especially for a “family friendly” fantasy movie. The movie was well cast, with several huge stars (Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman) returning. As well as Helena Bonham Carter excellently cast as the purely evil Bellatrix Lestrange. The new-comer, Evanna Lynch, played Luna Lovegood well (though I think she may have been playing herself). All in all, they all got the point across, which for a movie like this is sufficient.

Imelda Staunton (from Vera Drake) was cast as Dolores Umbridge. I HATED her! And that’s a good thing. From the moment she was introduced (and she coughed), I loathed her character. Umbridge is perhaps the most hated character in the book series, and Staunton played the role to a T. I enjoyed hating her every single time I saw her on the screen. Perfectly cast and well executed –Almost exactly as I had pictured her.

David Yates, a little-know Brit, directed this film and did a decent job, though again, not superb. He’s definitely no Alfonso Cuarón. I like the act transitions that used the Daily Prophet newspaper clippings. The action sequences were good - The final fight was very close to how I had imagined it from the books. I did feel like some of the scenes were really choppy. I think that, in an effort to include as much of the book’s story arcs as possible, he may have tried to cram too much into some scenes, which made it a little awkward to watch at times.

As a Harry Potter book fan, there were a lot of creative decisions that bugged me, but I won’t judge the movie against the book, but there were some things that were just wrong. I feel that most of them were done in an effort to keep our attention on the main players and even perhaps to help set up the final two movies, but as a loyal fan, I wanted everything to play out the way I had envisioned it.

The movie ended in a very “to be continued” kind of way, which I liked. The books, as well as the movies, are all really one story and there is no true resolution until the series is over. I hate to think that there are people out there who watch the movies and don’t read the books, because the movies, to me, are more supplemental. You should really read the books as well to get the whole story.

I don’t think it’s fair to judge a movie against a book or for that matter against another movie or especially real life. It’s all about expectations and what you, as a movie goer, deserve. Judging this movie solely on its own merits, and not against the book series, I think it was good. It tells the story — We start at point A and end at point B — and we have some fun on the way. The Acting was good, the action was what it should be, and the effects were better than expected. Take it with a grain of salt, don’t expect too much (remember how the book was the most anticipated and the least well received of all) and I think that you will be pleased.

Supplimental Links:

J.K. Rowling’s Official Site - a very cool site with tons of easter eggs.

Official Harry Potter Book Site

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.