Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Seeing a midnight screening of a movie like Harry Potter can make all the difference in terms of reception. I’ve seen OofP twice now, with completely different settings, which made me watch it in two separate ways. First, at the midnight screening, like any of these, there are excited fans all around, making for an unforgettable movie experience. Just like the midnight shows of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, everyone was cheering at the same time, laughing out really loud, and even laughing at parts that shouldn’t be funny, but are because all us fans get the inside joke. That is why I love going to these things – everyone is involved and there for the same reason; complete love and devotion to a particular series. The second time I saw it was with my mom, in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, with some other families. Beyond the guy down the row who’s cell phone rang, and actually picked up and answered, it was a very quiet audience who did not seem to pick up on any of the humor. The silence let me watch the movie more closely, pick up lines I had missed, and realize how (mostly) solid it was.
Now that I’ve gone slightly off track, let me get more to the point. So the movie starts, in what appears to be Kansas with strange vibes of Signs. I seriously was expecting an alien to pop out of that field. The opening bit was not at all how I had imagined it would be, but at least Dudley and his bully friends looked completely ridiculous in their wannabe gangsta attire. The crowd loved that, or at least found it amusing. Overall, I thought the movie was wonderful. I felt director David Yates did a really good job of pacing the film and having a good balance of light and dark content. Although there was so much to cover (OftP is the longest book of the series), and obviously things had to be cut out, such as Ron playing Quidditch, Yates at least tried to cover missing pieces by inserting storylines through the Daily Prophet segues and other well edited montages. My particular favorite parts were Professor Umbridge (I loved it when Kyle H., sitting next to me, muttered “Bitch” under his breath when she first appeared on screen, with the rest of the audience making similar snide remarks), Dumbledore’s Army, and Filch trying to catch the meddling witches and wizards. I also felt that the main three actors (Daniel, Rupert, and Emma) totally brought their A-game, especially Daniel Radcliffe. You could actually tell that he has matured so much as an actor (must be those nude scenes in Equus) and I thought he did an amazing job as this time around felt more like a challenge as he had to channel Voldemort much much more than in the others. I also thought it was well done with all of the flashback scenes, which helped convey Harry’s angst. Now, the much anticipated kiss scene was what it was – awkward. The growing mistletoe was overkill, as well as zooming around in a circle. But then it was directly followed by a great moment, as the three discussed the “wet” kiss. My main complaints is that one, it could’ve been longer, and two, the actual Order of the Phoenix were hardly present or explained. It surely helped to have read the book, as some things were quickly looked at. I haven’t quite decided, but I think this could be my favorite of the HP movies. It definitely passes the OWLs in my book.

Directed by David Yates
Runtime: 138 minutes