Having read all the Harry Potter books at least once, none of the movies have really lived up to the books. Seeing as though most of you that are interested in seeing this movie have seen the first 4 films, I will go ahead and rate the Harry Potter movies from best to worst.
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Sorcerer's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the movie this review is for)
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I won’t go into my rating of the books but I will say that Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite of the series, so just because it's a good book doesn't make it a good movie.
This movie has a great set up with the most exciting thing to happen to Harry yet, while away from Hogwarts. (If you don’t know what Hogwarts is save your self some money and see Transformers.) But after that great intro we get a lot of newspapers flying across the screen telling us what is happening. Time passes too quickly in this movie, it's probably the only way the director can pack in all the info. In fact, taking the longest of the books so far and cramming it into the shortest movie probably contributed to why it wasn’t the best movie….even 20 more minutes could have done wonders to smooth out the story.
Like all Harry Potter films I have seen, I base the success of the film on how well the director is able to translate the book to the big screen. Order of the Phoenix isn’t the worst film in the Potter franchise but it isn’t the best either.
There are quite a few bright spots in this movie, beginning with the amazing job from all the top notch British acting talent in the film. When Emma Thompson takes a role with four lines you know there is magic in the air. Besides the adult actors, each of the young adults in this movie have grown into their role amazingly well. In fact, whoever the casting director was 7 years ago should be given major kudos. Every child actor has done a fantastic job…. in their role in all 5 films. That alone is incredible.
In the end once again the filmmakers have decided to try and make this movie more appealing to a broad audience and I am left with disappointment. At times I loved it but in the end it felt lacking... Order of the Phoenix manages to get sevenDacks….I thought for sure it was only going to get sixDacks but……I admit I currently have a bad case of Potter fever and the last book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out this Saturday so I am feeling quite generous. If you’re a fan of the series it’s worth checking out, if you aren’t go see Transformers.
1 comment:
The one thing I would disagree on is that I did not find the acting convincing in this last movie. Emma Thompson, cute as she is, seemed a little awkward and stiff as Hermione. But perhaps that's due to, as you say, the massive cuts in plot.
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