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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
WARNING - SPOILERS!
There are also spoilers for the 5th book.
In my opinion, this was the best Harry Potter movie so far. Even though it inevitably left out a lot from the book, it did a very good job combining various ideas and parts of the book so you still got the same idea. You really understood that Harry was going through a lot of inner turmoil and even suffering depression from seeing one of his friends killed right in front of him, and seeing Voldemort rise.
Even though I wasn't a big fan of the actor they have playing Sirius in the 3rd movie, I thought that they did a good job showing him more as a friendly and loving godfather. When they first showed Harry go and hug Sirius, I nearly cried. Hold on, Harry! Don't let go! I thought that they also did a good job making his death dramatic. Harry was being held back by Lupin screaming silently at the top of his lungs. Though -- this really bothered me -- the veil that he fell into wasn't anything like it should have been. Yes, I get to decide what it should be. In the book it distinctly describes curtains that wave as if a wind was constantly blowing them. In the movie it was just this ripple in the air... or just something weird. Definitely not curtains. And Harry clearly saw him literally disappear behind the veil so he knew that he couldn't just come out the other side. It just gave a different feeling initially than the book did. In the book I wasn't quite sure if Sirius had indeed died. I had to go back and read it. But, that's okay. I'll get over it. I suppose this way people won't be disputing whether Siruis really died, like some people did about the book. But, sadly, he really does die. Too bad. Oh yeah, like in the movie it had Bellatrix Lestrange use the Avada Kedavra spell on Sirius to knock him into the veil. The book isn't clear which spell she uses. Just, a spell hit him and knocked him back into the veil. I had always thought it was a stun spell, or something. The movie definitely made it clear he is dead.
That reminds me of something else. The scene between Harry and Dumbledore. It... wasn't right. It had elements of it from the book, but it wasn't right at all in my opinion. Okay, it did manage to include a line about Dumbledore caring about Harry too much, but he didn't have a tear in my blue eyes while he said it. Does this new Dumbledore have blue eyes? It sure doesn't look like it. Tsk Tsk. Harry was so subdued in the movie! I wanted to see him throwing around stuff in Dumbledore's office while Dumbledore sat there like nothing was happening. Then we might get a feel for who Dumbledore really is. I'm not a big fan of this movie Dumbledore. He looks too worn out and too worried about things, and his voice seems to be too harsh. He's a gentle old man that cares about Harry. I think they could have done the prophecy thing different too. Harry picked it up and then heard (part) of the prophecy and that was it. Now Harry knows it because he found out for himself, not becuase Dumbledore went ahead and told him like in the book. It gives a different feeling between them. Dumbledore had decided to tell Harry because he decided that Harry was old enough to know, and that he ought to. He did it because he cared about him so much and knew he couldn't hide the real reason anymore. That didn't come across in the movie at all. Tsk Tsk indeed.
What else? Oh yes. The Department of Mysteries. They sure did skip a lot of action. How did they get into the room with the veil in it? They just went through a door and fell into it. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me. Nope. I wanted to see the room of doors that rotated. And the various people there got some bumps and bruises, but no one got hurt like they did in the book. Everyone was still standing at the end. Well, except Harry who was in Dumbledore's arms, but that's a little different. I did think that that part was very well done. I could see how some people would say it was really cheesy for Harry to say that he knows love and friendship, but I loved it. That's something that Voldemort could never understand. I'm not sure how they are going to fully portray that in the upcoming movies. But, I thought that the inner-struggle was very well portrayed. Yay for being well portrayed!
Though, before they got to the Department of Mysteries, it didn't quite make sense. Okay, so Umbridge catches Harry, Ron, and Hermione in her office trying to get to Sirius, and then suddenly we've got Ginny, Neville, and Luna in there? How? Draco comes in saying he found Neville helping the Weasley girl... do what? It made sense in the book, but they didn't explain anything whatsoever in the movie. Nope. I'd be confused if I hadn't read the book. Though, not confused enough to not know what's happening.
Oh, that's another thing. Neville's parents. It felt a little weird to see Harry just come up to Neville in the Room of Requirement and Neville decides to tell him that his parents were totured to insanity, but not to tell anyone else. Umm... weird? I guess that was their way of putting that in the storyline without going to the hospital to see Mr. Weasley. I suppose it works. I seemed to like it better the second time I saw the movie. It just seemed random...
I did think it was clever the way their portrayed Umbridge's control over Hogwarts. In the book, there wasn't nearly that many decrees, but that way you understand how much she was controlling Hogwarts and how brutal it was getting. Very good! Though, I didn't like her using the Blood Quills with all of Dumbledore's Army. That way the punishment wasn't something just between her and Harry. It was between her and Dumbledore's Army. What the heck? Now does everyone have scars that show the Ministry's control? I liked how in the books he could look at the scar on his hand to remind him of how everyone had called him a liar and fool for claiming Voldemort was back. Now it seems less... meaningful. Oh well. I suppose I'll get over it.
I thought that Luna Lovegood's character was awesome! The actress who played her did an awesome job. She achieved that dreamy voice that was described in the books and that look of aloofness from the world. Sweet! But, there is something I don't understand. She used the spell Levicorpus on a Death Eater in the Department of Mysteries, but we don't discover that spell until the 6th book with the Half-Blood Prince. Why did they decide to include it? I thought for sure it wasn't introduced until the 6th book... they could have used something else. And it didn't seem to do the same thing that was described in the book. It just kind of sent the person flying back. Oh well. I like that spell. It's pretty flippin' sweet.
Why couldn't they include Ron and Hermione becoming Prefects? They could have at least showed them have badges on their robes or something. Then, of course, Quidditch was completely ignored like in the 3rd movie. (Where we missed seeing Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup.) I guess the clubs being banned included Quidditch? I suppose that's what we are supposed to assume. I just like seeing Quidditch. I wish I could fly on a broom. Though, this is something I've always wondered, doesn't it get uncomfortable riding on a broom? Especially for a guy... I'll have to ask Daniel Radcliffe what it's like sometime. Maybe they have padding or something. Or maybe they kind of hover over the broom when they fly... for some reason. That seems to be the way I imagined it to make it make sense. I guess it doesn't really matter too much, just something to wonder. Maybe I'll ask J.K. Rowling what she had in mind. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
I know that there's more to say, but I'll leave it here. Overall I thought they did a good job getting the main ideas from the 5th book. Maybe some people will want to pick up the books since they are so much better and actually include the entire storyline. Rock on Harry Potter.
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