I'm tired of defending the film, so I just wrote a long review. BTW, I loved it. :D
Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Spoiler! Spoilers! Spoilers!!!
Starring:
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Imelda Stauton, Helena Bonham Carter, etc.
The 'muppet babies' (that's what I call the main cast) are back, except they're anything but babies this time around. Things have gotten darker at Hogwarts, and though the cast says that movie after movie, this time it really is dark. Dark to the point of depressing, but don't worry, it's all for good.
From the moment Order of the Phoenix begins, the atmosphere of the movie gives us right away the fact that this film is very different from the rest of the Harry Potter movies. The relative feeling of loneliness and helplessness that Harry feels during the entire opening sequence of the film sets the tone for the rest of the movie. One of the very few problems I had with the film adaptation, was the absence of the Howler that Dumbledore sends to Petunia Dursley with words of warning, something I thought was very important. Moving on, the scene with the Dementors attacking Harry and his cousin Dudley to the scenes at the Dursley's house, though very quick, are also extremely dark and particularly close to the events in the book version. The arrival of the aurors to rescue Harry from the Dursley's is slightly different, they come right up to his room and whisk him away, the absence of Lupin at the scene was sad, but other than that it was very lovely and lighthearted. Harry is taken away by the group of aurors, including mysterious Mad-Eye-Moody and quirky Nymphadora Tonks. Though they both have very limited screen time, they manage to get the characters through, though I wish we could've seen a bit more of Tonks and her clumsiness.
The character arrive at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a grimmy and old house that used to be home to Sirius Black's family and is now used as headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix. The scenes at #12 are quite similar to their literary counterpart, even down to some of the line. I was suprised, upon my second viewing of the film, to see (or rather hear ) that the portrait of Mrs. Black was kept in the film. It's very fast and quite, but you can hear Kreacher talk to her as he passes by the covered up portrait. Kreacher was a nice touch, one that JK Rowling insisted they kept in the film, he was creepishly animated and very unlikeable, just as Kreacher ought to be. We begin to notice Harry's resentment towards friends and companions in these scenes, though the anger is not as bad as it was in the book, we get a feeling of why Harry feels like that and we understand him.
The hearing at the Ministry of Magic was exceptionaly done. First off I want to say that the Ministry set was absolutely beautiful, down to the last detail and the all black and gold colors. I would love to work there. In the hearing scene Imelda Stauton's sweet but sour Umbridge starts to show her colors and Dumbledore shuns Harry after winning the hearing.
From the hearing we go quickly to Hogwarts, missing precious moments of the Order from the book and missing a lot of Remus Lupin, but with wonderful scenes of love and affection between Harry and Sirius, those moments were priceless. Even before we arrive at Hogwarts, we continue to see the feeling of helpelessness Harry feels as no one believes him when he says he-who-must-not-be-named is back, this is display through a nightmare in which Harry sees Voldemort at the train station while no one else seems to see him and his encounter with Malfoy after he arrives at Hogwarts. As we arrive for another school year we're introduced to a new character, Loony- I mean- Luna Lovegood, played by new comer Evanna Lynch. Evanna can only be described in one way, she is Luna, heart and soul. The arrival at Hogwarts also brings a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the horrible and pink Dolores Umbridge, whose first speech at the school is just a taste of what's to come. Umbridge is a control freak, she wants to be in control all the time and she slowly but surely takes over Hogwarts, torturing students and further altering Harry's feeling of loneliness by cutting him off from everything he loves of Hogwarts. But even with all the darkness and depression during which Harry is plagued by nightmares of Voldemort and a long corridor with a door he can never reach, there is time for some magical Hogwarts fun. The most important of which is the formation of the DA (Dumbledore's Army). A certain group of students that decide to rebel against Umbridge and take back they're school. Harry becomes a teacher during, what I think are, the most magical scenes in the film. Harry begins to lead the fantastic wizards and witches of the future. Some other happy moments include a kiss and a fantastic escape from Hogwarts brought by the Weasley twins in a last act of rebelion. But going back to the DA and that kiss...The kiss scene and the one immediately after are easily some of my favorites from the entire film. The almost word by word lines are right out of the book, the atmosphere is perfect, and the little touches of foreshadowing (like Ginny's stare down of Cho Chang) are gold and they lead up to a scene of a normal adolescent moment, a first kiss between Harry and his crush Cho Chang, played by the beautiful Katie Leung.
Meanwhile, Hagrid returns from from a trip to the mountains accompained by his giant half-brother Grawp which leads to a lighthearted moment full of Ron/Hermione-ness. And Cho Chang turns snitch, giving away the DA to Umbridge after being given some Veritaserum, and causing her and Harry's relationship to end abruptly. Though very different from the book version, it helps to speed things up and works on screen even though the relationship remains unresolved at the end.
The last 20 minutes or so of the movie are easily the best. The so called Department of Mysteries battle is priceless. From the moment the kids step in there the real action begins. The battle scenes where beautiful cordinated, Helena Bonham Carter was crazy and amazing as the sexy yet sadistic Bellatrix Lestrange and the death of Sirius was fast and shocking, but the effect was good. Harry goes bezerk at the murder of his godfather at the hands of Bella, even using an unforgivable curse on her, but then the Dark Lord himself shows up and so does Dumbledore. The battle between the two is so amazing that I have no other words to describe it. By the end of the fight Voldemort has the upper hand as he poses Harry's body, the scene is incredibly strong and touching and it had me bawling all the way through. The score is a big part of the scene, it's fantastic. Harry wins over Voldemort with his memories of his friends and love, something the Dark Lord lacks. The battle scene ends at the ministry workers, including the Minister himself, arrive at the ministry and see the Dark Lord in the flesh stating "He's back!", gaining a big "Duh!" from the audience.
Summarizing, Order of the Phoenix is without a doubt the best film of the series. It's no longer a children's series, Order marks the turning point for the franchise and is just a bridge between the instalments before and the even darker instalments yet to come. The pacing is fantastic, probably the best of the Potter films. Even though the film is the shortest in the series it doesn't feel rushed, and it's not dragging either. The editing is right on point and not rough cut like Prisoner of Azkaban felt.
The cast is superb, especially the new aditions. Imelda Stauton makes us really loathe the character of Umbridge when she plays her so brilliantly. The audience cannot wait until she's finally gone at the end. Helena Bonham Carter fill Bellatrix to a T, sexy yet completely demented. And Evanna Lynch is just...perfect.
Daniel Radcliffe gives the best performance. He has improved so incredibly much that even I, who absolutely adore Dan, was impressed with his performance. It was so much better than I thought it would be. Dan is the highlight of this film, he has changed so much. He's no longer a boy or a teenager, he's a man and the star of this film.
Rupert Grint finally gets to act as Ron is this film, always faithfully by Harry's side, helping him and defending him. Emma Watson, well what can I say, to me it's more of the same thing film after film. Other than growing up it's like she hasn't improved at all, and her annoying laugh in the after-kiss scene slightly ruined the feel of that moment. For me she is just not Hermione.
Even with all the differences between the book and the film I think we Harry Potter fans have to come to terms and separate the movie from the books and enjoy them seperately. For Order which was almost 900 pages long, things had to be cut, and many are not happy, even I miss some things from the book. But in Order the cuts work, the plot moves along and we don't need a 3 hour movie. This film made me appreciate the fifth book more, when Order was one of my least favorite books. I think it's the first film that really felt like the magical world of Hogwarts and all the perils and happiness that lay there. This was Harry Potter world. This was a wonderful movie.
5 out of 5 stars
10/10
A+
I cannot get enough of this movie.