Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a good movie to take the kiddies to see. Whether it is a good movie, on the other hand, depends on one's criteria.
Constant Viewer can't imagine many first-time viewers for this film -- that is, folks who somehow managed to avoid all four of the previous movie versions of J.K Rowling's fabulously successful books -- so CV won't bother setting the stage or, for that matter, describing the plot or characters. Everyone and just about everything from Potter-ville is back; indeed much of the first hour feels a bit like the first Star Trek movie where half the film was taken up reintroducing characters we already knew as well as friends or family back from a long trip abroad. Depending on how one feels about one's friends or family, this could be a good or a bad thing.
From a purely filmic point of view, however, Order of the Phoenix works quite well as an entertaining and more or less self-contained movie. The plot, though complicated, makes sense and proceeds to its logical conclusion, the special effects are appropriately dazzling, and the adult cast of A-list British acting royalty all turn in splendid performances. More importantly (since, after all, we have two more films to look forward to), Daniel Radcliffe has developed into a competent actor whose post-Potter film career looks increasingly promising. Special mention must be made of Imelda Staunton, whose bravura performance as Ministry of Magic hack and Hogwarts' new sadistic teacher Dolores Umbridge should forever leave viewers feeling repulsed by pink Angora. CV heartily approves of this result.
No review of Order of the Phoenix can avoid using the word "dark," so let's get to it. Yes, the film is dark, symbolically and literally, so much so that damned little of its two hour and eighteen minute running time takes place in daylight. Rowling's essentially Manichean universe is peopled with good guys and bad guys and Order of the Phoenix is definitely a tale from the dark side even though, of course, the good guys manage to prevail. Speaking of the "dark side," CV had to start laughing toward the end during Dumbledore's battle with one of Voldemort's henchmen for the -- let's be charitable -- homage director David Yates pays to a certain well-known George Lucas franchise. Well, what the heck, Lucas swiped the scene from just about every Errol Flynn swashbuckler ever made, so let's just call it a set piece.
CV cannot vouch personally for how well Order of the Phoenix tracks the novel, having given up on the Potter series somewhere around page 2,347 of that fifth book. CV's two sons, however, found little to object to on that score. Frankly, once the novelty of Rowling's initially charming and wondrous universe has faded, one pretty much has to be a die-hard fan to keep slogging through the books or the films. CV admits he is only mildly curious about how the final book will conclude.
The film-makers in particular have to give the movie audiences something worth returning for when there are, after all, next to no surprises awaiting them. Order of the Phoenix fills that need by showing us a Harry Potter who, childhood innocence having long ago been taken from him, is now on the verge of becoming a man. That's a story worth watching, magic or no.
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3 comments:
I can see why folks find The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise worth watching. I don't find the same is true of the Harry Potter movies. Then again, personal tastes are personal tastes. One of mine being that I am not particularly interested in watching adolescents and teenagers whine.
My apologies for the following long comment, but since I don't have a blog I am borrowing yours to babble about the movie. Feel free to delete if you consider it out of place.
Since it has been nearly 25 years since I last watched Welles's The Trial, and the similarity hit me when watching The Order of the Phoenix, I ordered the DVD of The Trial. After watching it, I do think Yates consciously mimicked Welles.
The things I noticed most while watching The Order of the Phoenix were that both films are shot almost entirely with a telephoto lens, it has the effect of flattening the foreground into the background. This is definitely not a common technique. The combination of nearly black and white plus the use of telephoto gives both films a very similar feel. Additionally, to steal a line from sensesofciema about The Trial, both films use a combination of "...long takes and long shots with as many claustrophobic close-ups and rapid, uneasy cuts..."
There are several visually similar scenes in the two movies, in particular the scene of the dementor attack (akin to a tunnel scene in The Trial), the scene of the students desks while taking OWLs (same as a shot of the row upon row of workers at typewriters in Mr. K's office). The scenes in the courtrooms are very close, with the juries extending above the top of the frame. There are others, but I'm guessing nobody is still reading this anyway.
I probably shouldn't mention what the prophecy looks like (from some other Welles film).
One last note, From topix.net:
Director David Yates called working on a Harry Potter film "like having a big train set." This echoes the famed remark of Orson Welles, arriving at RKO in 1939: "This is the biggest electric train set a boy ...
No apologies required, Stuart. In fact, thanks. That's what the comments section is all about.
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