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Me, Carleen and the library gang went to see The Order of the Phoenix on Friday. I should forward this review by saying that this was my favorite book of the Harry Potter series so far, so I was expecting a lot out of this one. First impression: underwhelming. This is the longest book of the series and yet the movie clocked in at a mere 2 hours 7 minutes. The two previous movies ran over 2 1/2 hours. Bad omen right off the bat. The next bad thing was not the movies fault, but the theatres - no sound for the first couple minutes of the film. I need that Harry Potter Main Theme music to really get me into the movie and without that the experience was a bit flat. On the music: could someone please get John Williams back to score these movies? The music just does nothing for me.
It was nice to see Dan and Rupert with shorter hair - I really hated their previous haircuts. But everyone is really getting comfortable with their roles, all three: Dan, Rupert and Emma were all able to step up to the plate to handle the more “adult” themes of this movie. Where was Hermione in this movie, though? I feel like we hardly got to see her at all. A couple of new faces in this movie, namely Imelda Staunton and Evanna Lynch playing Dolores Umbridge and Luna Lovegood respectively. Both wer fantastic choices for their roles, though my personal favorite new face was Evanna. She simply was Luna.
I know it sounds like a stale complaint from a ravenous fan, but there was just too much left out of this one. It was inevitable, given the length of the book, but at 2 hours, I feel like there was a bit too much *snip* *snip* in the editing room. Much like Goblet of Fire - only worse - there is very little “breathing” room. Slow down, take some time to show us the good stuff.
Pretty much the summation of my feelings toward this movie is: Not Enough.
6 comments
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17.07.07 at 06:30:28
Tara
I did really enjoy it and am re-reading the book now as well. There is so much that was left out and after the movie I had to try to explain in more detail what was going on to my friend who had only watched the movies. He couldn’t figure out who Bellatrix LeStrange was and why Malfoy wanted the prophecy, etc. It will be interesting when the DVD comes out to see if they include deleted scenes and if so, how many were deleted.
17.07.07 at 06:36:55
chrissy
I agree! There were parts that I thought were very important that were left out, which makes me wonder if all my theories are wrong. My friends and I decided that the movie people want their star and they have that in Harry, while the JK sees Harry, Hermione, and Ron as a sort of holy trinity.
Book 4 was my favorite!
17.07.07 at 08:39:53
Mike Huxley
Good point, Tara. Of all the movies so far, Order of the Phoenix is probably the hardest one to watch if you haven’t read the books. Yeah, Bellatrix does just kind of come out of nowhere in the movie.
Holy Trinity - I like that Chrissy! Radcliffe does definetly take center stage - so much more than the previous movies. To add to your theories: I heard that the film makers were going to cut Kreetcher out the movie entirely, but JK told them that he plays an important part in the last book, so he had to at least be introduced. How could they cut Kreetcher? I loved the interplay between him and Sirius in the books.
17.07.07 at 10:31:53
chrissy
I heard the Kreetcher thing, too. One of my theories was based on something that they cut in the movie, which is why I’m now doubting it. (I am still sold on the Lily/James/Snape love triangle though!)
17.07.07 at 10:55:23
Mike Huxley
Yeah, that is a REALLY good theory, actually. I’ll buy it.
19.07.07 at 14:45:15
Carleen Huxley
I haven’t read the books yet either…I know, that’s terrible me being a librarian and all. Like Tara’s friend, I kept bugging Mike for explanations all the time.