Order of the Phoenix
Jul. 12th, 2007 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilWe had a great time last night. I ended up putting together a makeshift costume out of my black pants, a shirt and tie of my husband's, and of course my trusty cloak. My husband wore his wizard wig and hat from two Halloweens ago. We were the only ones in costume and got plenty of stares, but isn't that the point? ;)
We liked the movie. I figure I'll just start rambling about my impressions before I read anyone else's.
I think this is is actually the best adaptation so far. I said the same thing upon coming out of Goblet of Fire. Odd that the longest books seem to be adapted the best. Perhaps it's just that I'm more resigned to the fact that they have to cut things, so the omissions don't bug me as much. In any case, much as I missed stuff like Ron as Keeper and St. Mungo's, I understand that they weren't crucial to the plot and could be cut. Adaptive choices I didn't agree with? Mostly it was when they put stuff in out of order - Trelawny's sacking way early on, Harry's conversation with Luna practically right after they've first met. Dumbledore's confrontation with Umbridge over Trelawny belongs closer to the end, right before he leaves Hogwarts, because that's really one of those final things Dumbledore does that pushes Umbridge right over the edge. Of course they didn't include Firenze, but she still gets pretty enraged over what she thinks is an undermining of her power, and it's too early on in the story for that level of rage. I didn't have a problem with Luna explaining thestrels instead of Hagrid, but having Harry ask about who she saw die isn't fitting with where he's at. For most of the fifth book he's too self-absorbed in his own problems to think much of other people's - when he does ask Luna about her mother at the end, it's a sign that he's finally starting to think of others and feel real compassion and pity. A sign of maturation, you know? But it didn't bug me enough to ruin the movie for me, thank goodness.
So as for stuff that I loved - Luna was awesome! Spot on, with the looks, the voice, the attitude. Tonks was pretty good but had so little screen time it hardly mattered. Umbridge was perfectly evil, made me hate her even more. Bellatrix was properly twisted and terrifying, with that laugh :shudder: really putting a spooky mood over the battle in the Department of Mysteries. So the new characters were mostly to my satisfaction; the casting people did a decent job and the actors, by and large, really relished their roles.
Sometimes things moved startlingly fast, like the Durselys up and leaving and then suddenly the Advance Guard is there, or Harry being whisked away to Occlumency directly after Mr. Weasley's attack. Just a function of making a massive book into a normal length for a movie. Something that kept the pace up while avoiding choppiness was the montages, a technique none of the other films have used. Very nice use of the Daily Prophet images, and clever intercuts between Umbridge's worsening reign of terror and Harry teaching Dumbledore's Army. Having prolonged scenes would have dragged out the story; turning them into brief clips in montage format was a wise choice.
Poor Percy had no lines at all, but at least he was in this movie.
Finally they had everyone saying "You-Know-Who" instead of blithely speaking Voldemort's name as they have in the other movies. All the right people said his name, none of the wrong ones. I had to chuckle when Hermione gulped and said Voldemort, seeing as how she's said it without any trouble in previous films. But I was glad to see more consistency with the books.
Only one really annoying Hermione Sue moment, when she gains mind control over Grawp and shows absolutely no fear in the face of someone who could squish her guts out. Blech. Grawp was pretty mild-mannered compared to the book, but again, at least they kept him in. Hagrid's role was pretty tiny! And why bother having Kreacher when they didn't include his double-cross? I suppose he served as a sympbol of Sirius's horrible family and such...maybe they figure they'll need him in the sixth film. Speaking of which, I was wondering if they'd keep in the mirror from Sirius - since they didn't, I'm wondering if it's not going to show up in Book seven. That won't remain a mystery for long, though....kind of sad to realize that, even though it'll be fun to see the sixth and seventh movies, there won't be any room for speculation. We'll already know how everything turns out. Sigh. I'm excited and yet morose.
Once more they had Neville fulfilling Dobby's role, in finding the Room of Requirement. Well, I guess Dobby's probably never coming back. A bit of a shame; I didn't think he was that bad in Chamber of Secrets, but I do like anything that gives Neville a chance to shine. I really missed his scene in St. Mungo's - the conversation with Harry about his parents didn't quite have the same effect - but I understand that making a whole other set in addition to Hogwarts, Grimmauld Place and the Ministry would have been a hassle.
Happy to see the Weasley twins' triumphant departure. Cinematically, it is more dramatic to have them leave with the fireworks rather than the swamp, though it was jarring to leap straight from that into Harry's nightmare. Again, have to keep the plot moving. It certanly heightens the state of Umbridge's fury when she comes in there still disheveled from the fireworks and sees Harry at the fire. I have to wonder, though, if the Charms theory test was the last of their O.W.L.'s. If not, Harry's going to have a lot of trouble going on to his sixth year. :P
I really, really loved the use of scenes from previous films. It's the first time they've done it, and it was put to great effect, during the dreams, Occlumency lessons, and particularly during the possession scene. That scene went on far longer than in the book, but to portray it visually rather than narratively, it had to go on a bit. Perhaps it was a bit cheesy for Harry to say outright why Voldemort is incapable of possessing him, like the last line of the film was a bit eye-rolling, but sometimes dialogue comes off clunky when it's trying to be thematic. Overall, the Department of Mysteries sequences were pretty satisfying.
No furious Harry breaking Dumbledore's stuff, which I honestly missed, but they did include one of my favorite lines from Dumbledore: "I cared too much." Speaking of which, I was pleased with the screenwriter for including large chunks of dialogue straight from the book. Rowling writes some great lines; why not use them? The conversation about Cho's kiss had a lot of stuff word for word from the book, and I enjoyed that, though the giggling at the end seemed out of character for all three of them. Happily, Ron was in general more in character in this film, less buffoonish, only occasionally made to look stupid by Hermione Sue.
A few thoughts about where this will leave movie number six. Definite foreshadowing of Harry/Ginny, but not in the same way as the book. The book showed her ability to be her own person rather than Harry's fangirl; the movie showed her looking surreptitiously envious of Cho. Some acknowledgement of her impressive hexing skills. Snape's status as a double agent was never mentioned - I expect they'll probably present that right at the start of the sixth film with Spinner's End (I'm almost certain they won't include the Other Minister). Absolutely nothing that could be construed as Lupin/Tonks, but then, I didn't orginally see it in book five either. No mention of the locket in Grimmauld Place, but I'm still pretty sure that's the Horcrux. Again, I wonder if they've included Kreacher in such a cameo role because he's going to be important in book/movie seven. Quidditch plays a slighter larger role in HBP, though mostly for shipping reasons :P so they might just bring up the idea of Ron as Keeper for the first time in the sixth movie. It's not as though much changes with his Quidditch skills from the fifth to the sixth book. Or they may just leave it out again. No mention of Bill and Fleur, but I strongly suspect they'll be there in movie six, because the wedding is going to be a fairly significant scene at the start of the seventh. I think. We'll see. Just a little over a week left to speculate, and then I'll be holding the seventh book in my greedy hands. :D
We liked the movie. I figure I'll just start rambling about my impressions before I read anyone else's.
I think this is is actually the best adaptation so far. I said the same thing upon coming out of Goblet of Fire. Odd that the longest books seem to be adapted the best. Perhaps it's just that I'm more resigned to the fact that they have to cut things, so the omissions don't bug me as much. In any case, much as I missed stuff like Ron as Keeper and St. Mungo's, I understand that they weren't crucial to the plot and could be cut. Adaptive choices I didn't agree with? Mostly it was when they put stuff in out of order - Trelawny's sacking way early on, Harry's conversation with Luna practically right after they've first met. Dumbledore's confrontation with Umbridge over Trelawny belongs closer to the end, right before he leaves Hogwarts, because that's really one of those final things Dumbledore does that pushes Umbridge right over the edge. Of course they didn't include Firenze, but she still gets pretty enraged over what she thinks is an undermining of her power, and it's too early on in the story for that level of rage. I didn't have a problem with Luna explaining thestrels instead of Hagrid, but having Harry ask about who she saw die isn't fitting with where he's at. For most of the fifth book he's too self-absorbed in his own problems to think much of other people's - when he does ask Luna about her mother at the end, it's a sign that he's finally starting to think of others and feel real compassion and pity. A sign of maturation, you know? But it didn't bug me enough to ruin the movie for me, thank goodness.
So as for stuff that I loved - Luna was awesome! Spot on, with the looks, the voice, the attitude. Tonks was pretty good but had so little screen time it hardly mattered. Umbridge was perfectly evil, made me hate her even more. Bellatrix was properly twisted and terrifying, with that laugh :shudder: really putting a spooky mood over the battle in the Department of Mysteries. So the new characters were mostly to my satisfaction; the casting people did a decent job and the actors, by and large, really relished their roles.
Sometimes things moved startlingly fast, like the Durselys up and leaving and then suddenly the Advance Guard is there, or Harry being whisked away to Occlumency directly after Mr. Weasley's attack. Just a function of making a massive book into a normal length for a movie. Something that kept the pace up while avoiding choppiness was the montages, a technique none of the other films have used. Very nice use of the Daily Prophet images, and clever intercuts between Umbridge's worsening reign of terror and Harry teaching Dumbledore's Army. Having prolonged scenes would have dragged out the story; turning them into brief clips in montage format was a wise choice.
Poor Percy had no lines at all, but at least he was in this movie.
Finally they had everyone saying "You-Know-Who" instead of blithely speaking Voldemort's name as they have in the other movies. All the right people said his name, none of the wrong ones. I had to chuckle when Hermione gulped and said Voldemort, seeing as how she's said it without any trouble in previous films. But I was glad to see more consistency with the books.
Only one really annoying Hermione Sue moment, when she gains mind control over Grawp and shows absolutely no fear in the face of someone who could squish her guts out. Blech. Grawp was pretty mild-mannered compared to the book, but again, at least they kept him in. Hagrid's role was pretty tiny! And why bother having Kreacher when they didn't include his double-cross? I suppose he served as a sympbol of Sirius's horrible family and such...maybe they figure they'll need him in the sixth film. Speaking of which, I was wondering if they'd keep in the mirror from Sirius - since they didn't, I'm wondering if it's not going to show up in Book seven. That won't remain a mystery for long, though....kind of sad to realize that, even though it'll be fun to see the sixth and seventh movies, there won't be any room for speculation. We'll already know how everything turns out. Sigh. I'm excited and yet morose.
Once more they had Neville fulfilling Dobby's role, in finding the Room of Requirement. Well, I guess Dobby's probably never coming back. A bit of a shame; I didn't think he was that bad in Chamber of Secrets, but I do like anything that gives Neville a chance to shine. I really missed his scene in St. Mungo's - the conversation with Harry about his parents didn't quite have the same effect - but I understand that making a whole other set in addition to Hogwarts, Grimmauld Place and the Ministry would have been a hassle.
Happy to see the Weasley twins' triumphant departure. Cinematically, it is more dramatic to have them leave with the fireworks rather than the swamp, though it was jarring to leap straight from that into Harry's nightmare. Again, have to keep the plot moving. It certanly heightens the state of Umbridge's fury when she comes in there still disheveled from the fireworks and sees Harry at the fire. I have to wonder, though, if the Charms theory test was the last of their O.W.L.'s. If not, Harry's going to have a lot of trouble going on to his sixth year. :P
I really, really loved the use of scenes from previous films. It's the first time they've done it, and it was put to great effect, during the dreams, Occlumency lessons, and particularly during the possession scene. That scene went on far longer than in the book, but to portray it visually rather than narratively, it had to go on a bit. Perhaps it was a bit cheesy for Harry to say outright why Voldemort is incapable of possessing him, like the last line of the film was a bit eye-rolling, but sometimes dialogue comes off clunky when it's trying to be thematic. Overall, the Department of Mysteries sequences were pretty satisfying.
No furious Harry breaking Dumbledore's stuff, which I honestly missed, but they did include one of my favorite lines from Dumbledore: "I cared too much." Speaking of which, I was pleased with the screenwriter for including large chunks of dialogue straight from the book. Rowling writes some great lines; why not use them? The conversation about Cho's kiss had a lot of stuff word for word from the book, and I enjoyed that, though the giggling at the end seemed out of character for all three of them. Happily, Ron was in general more in character in this film, less buffoonish, only occasionally made to look stupid by Hermione Sue.
A few thoughts about where this will leave movie number six. Definite foreshadowing of Harry/Ginny, but not in the same way as the book. The book showed her ability to be her own person rather than Harry's fangirl; the movie showed her looking surreptitiously envious of Cho. Some acknowledgement of her impressive hexing skills. Snape's status as a double agent was never mentioned - I expect they'll probably present that right at the start of the sixth film with Spinner's End (I'm almost certain they won't include the Other Minister). Absolutely nothing that could be construed as Lupin/Tonks, but then, I didn't orginally see it in book five either. No mention of the locket in Grimmauld Place, but I'm still pretty sure that's the Horcrux. Again, I wonder if they've included Kreacher in such a cameo role because he's going to be important in book/movie seven. Quidditch plays a slighter larger role in HBP, though mostly for shipping reasons :P so they might just bring up the idea of Ron as Keeper for the first time in the sixth movie. It's not as though much changes with his Quidditch skills from the fifth to the sixth book. Or they may just leave it out again. No mention of Bill and Fleur, but I strongly suspect they'll be there in movie six, because the wedding is going to be a fairly significant scene at the start of the seventh. I think. We'll see. Just a little over a week left to speculate, and then I'll be holding the seventh book in my greedy hands. :D
