OotP movie review
Jul. 16th, 2007 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: non-Fantasia of course. I liked it a lot - it may be my favorite movie thus far - but I think I'm in the minority on this! The major complaints seem to be that it's too dark, that too many important plot elements were cut and that it worked better as a series of reference points to the book rather than a standalone adaptation. I don't see any of it. ^^; The fifth book is dark - Cedric's death is a hinge tipping the series away from lighthearted whimsy - and if anything had to be cut I prefer it to be the parts where the core Gryffindor trio are angry problem-causing gits (with or without justification). Newspaper reviews had given me the impression the movie was going to be all about HARRY'S CAPSLOCK RAGE, so I was pretty relieved to find this wasn't the case. As for the way it was put together, I only read OotP once when it came out, don't particularly pride myself on remembering the plot (quite the opposite XD;;), and it didn't even feel like there was anything missing. I did find it odd that they bothered to introduce Kreacher and state that Bellatrix was Sirius's cousin (but not Lucius's sister-in-law?) without delivering the payoff to the setup, but if I hadn't read the book I doubt I'd've thought twice about it.
The characters are more likeable in their filmic incarnations, and the kids do make more convincing actors as they age. Even Umbridge is tolerable. I don't want her to be whitewashed but I do prefer to watch movies without the urge to throw things at the screen. XD Not that IMO they intentionally set out to make her more palatable than in the book; as sororial unit says it may just be a function of the live-action adaptation, because at least you can appreciate the actress's take on the role. And Dan Radcliffe nowadays is about as convincing a 14 1/2 year old as any Prince of Tennis character, so the physical juxtaposition makes it come across more like a contest of wills and less like horrible child abuse.
Definitely it's quite different from the GoF movie, though. GoF did a better job adapting the book, by which I mean it did a heroic job adapting the unadaptable, and the charm of it had more to do with character development and incipient romance. OotP has no quidditch and little fumbling over Cho (tying her back to the DA plotline was an inspired change). They also did a much better job keeping John Williams on the leash this time around, or so it seemed to me.
Random observations: the director has very decided opinions on the characters' hair, which appear to be diametrically opposite in all cases to the opinions of the last director. XD Alan Rickman plays Snape camper and camper with each installment, it's to the point where I start laughing uncontrollably whenever he appears on-screen (positive y/n?). Luna and Tonks were note-perfect. So was the casting for young!Snape and young!James, all three seconds of them. My sister and I couldn't figure out who the long-haired brunet boy in the DA was supposed to be - Michael Corner? Zacharias Smith? The fight sequences were really cool; they've always been the films' weak point so I was glad these carried the proper buzz. Was afraid to pay too much attention to what Lucius Malfoy or Sirius Black were wearing as thinking about it would probably cause me to miss important dialogue ("Is that a tattoo? Do you have anything on under that coat?"). Most of the kids have come out the other end surprisingly attractive, in defiance of the rule of thumb that child actors grow up to be funny-looking. Or at least they still look like one's mental image of their characters. Neville, Draco, Ginny, and so on. Visually there was more juxtaposition of the wizarding world with modern muggle technology - downtown London cityscape of glittering high-rises at night, Oyster card (XD). Though logically the Order could never fly straight down the Thames at sightseeing deck level that way.
In other news, T is putting together an FMA cosplay group for Otakuthon. I >_> in advance (since my hair is now too long to do any character except Lust, and uhhh that outfit).
Now reading the manga I got off Sakki, up to volume 3. This... moves pretty fast. I forgot how much I like Scar; nowadays as well as liking characters because they fit my "type", I like some characters as characters, because they're unusual in some way.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fabulous_papaya - got the books and CD too, thanks!
The characters are more likeable in their filmic incarnations, and the kids do make more convincing actors as they age. Even Umbridge is tolerable. I don't want her to be whitewashed but I do prefer to watch movies without the urge to throw things at the screen. XD Not that IMO they intentionally set out to make her more palatable than in the book; as sororial unit says it may just be a function of the live-action adaptation, because at least you can appreciate the actress's take on the role. And Dan Radcliffe nowadays is about as convincing a 14 1/2 year old as any Prince of Tennis character, so the physical juxtaposition makes it come across more like a contest of wills and less like horrible child abuse.
Definitely it's quite different from the GoF movie, though. GoF did a better job adapting the book, by which I mean it did a heroic job adapting the unadaptable, and the charm of it had more to do with character development and incipient romance. OotP has no quidditch and little fumbling over Cho (tying her back to the DA plotline was an inspired change). They also did a much better job keeping John Williams on the leash this time around, or so it seemed to me.
Random observations: the director has very decided opinions on the characters' hair, which appear to be diametrically opposite in all cases to the opinions of the last director. XD Alan Rickman plays Snape camper and camper with each installment, it's to the point where I start laughing uncontrollably whenever he appears on-screen (positive y/n?). Luna and Tonks were note-perfect. So was the casting for young!Snape and young!James, all three seconds of them. My sister and I couldn't figure out who the long-haired brunet boy in the DA was supposed to be - Michael Corner? Zacharias Smith? The fight sequences were really cool; they've always been the films' weak point so I was glad these carried the proper buzz. Was afraid to pay too much attention to what Lucius Malfoy or Sirius Black were wearing as thinking about it would probably cause me to miss important dialogue ("Is that a tattoo? Do you have anything on under that coat?"). Most of the kids have come out the other end surprisingly attractive, in defiance of the rule of thumb that child actors grow up to be funny-looking. Or at least they still look like one's mental image of their characters. Neville, Draco, Ginny, and so on. Visually there was more juxtaposition of the wizarding world with modern muggle technology - downtown London cityscape of glittering high-rises at night, Oyster card (XD). Though logically the Order could never fly straight down the Thames at sightseeing deck level that way.
In other news, T is putting together an FMA cosplay group for Otakuthon. I >_> in advance (since my hair is now too long to do any character except Lust, and uhhh that outfit).
Now reading the manga I got off Sakki, up to volume 3. This... moves pretty fast. I forgot how much I like Scar; nowadays as well as liking characters because they fit my "type", I like some characters as characters, because they're unusual in some way.
fabulous_papaya - got the books and CD too, thanks!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-17 03:18 pm (UTC)