Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – movie review
Erin, her brother, and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. I was, initially, planning on waiting for weeks to see it (this was the opening week for the movie). What I didn’t want was to be surrounded by a lot of prepubescent children who were Harry Potter fans. We bought tickets more than twenty-four hours in advance for a later showing.
Anyway, we’ve realized that if we want decent seats at a local movie theater you pretty much have to show up an hour (or more) in advance of the show time. So, we got to the mall an hour and a half early so Erin could exchange something she’d purchased the night before, and then to sit in a line forever listening to a couple of girls that looked all of 23 or 24 talking about their vast experience with their children and how their respective daughters had no desire to play with dolls and wanted to play sports and do boy type things instead of traditional girl things.
That lasted forever. After a while I stood up because sitting is pretty uncomfortable of late, I am thinking it is bed problems. Erin and her brother stood with me and kept asking why I was standing, and then they let us in to the theater. I didn’t know this, before, but I apparently race through the hall and in to the theater to get the seat I want when they let us in. I was only informed of this when I realized we were moving semi-quickly and didn’t want to move faster than Erin or her brother were prepared to move.
Conversely, I have a tendency to not leave the theater, or, for that matter, any large public gathering until the majority of the people have left. I don’t like the fight crowds, which only makes my Fourth of July story that much more of a tragedy, for me, as thousands of people, all thinking they have a right to be in the spot you’re occupying, and then proceeding to stick their metal noses in to that spot because YOU WILL get out of their way being good Mormon-folk and all.
So, the movie starts. Like the last one, very dark. Very nice. Harry is walking up a hill. He sits on a swing. The family playing in the playground gather and leave. His cousin, Dudley, or Dumbley, or whatever walks up with his group of friends. They start to make fun of Harry. The weather changes, Harry threatens his cousin. They race off to find shelter. Death Eaters come and attack them. Harry defends his cousin and then drags the boy home as Harry is expelled from Hogwarts. So starts Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
I have to say, as a dating, engaged, wanna be writing books, movies, television, fiction in all forms, stories, I have a tendency to go to movies with Erin or Jordan or just by myself. I watch TV and movies at home. It’s a part of my life. Reading, watching things, writing. Going to work, school, living my life, and working in the directions I want to be going. S
With that out of the way, though, watching this movie was a completely enjoyable experience. In previous incarnations of the Harry Potter franchise Harry has been a long-haired boy, the long hair designed to cover his forehead and the lightning bolt shaped scar. In this movie, Harry has taken a radical turn. He is depressed. As Erin’s brother said, EMO (highly emotional), because he watched a classmate die the previous year. On top of which, Dumbledore is ignoring and avoiding Harry throughout the movie/book. Harry has found himself, since coming to Hogwarts, alone from his mentor and guide, Dumbledore. As a result, he is forced to rely more upon his friends rather than the guidance of someone who has become a father figure for him.
After the movie, Erin indicated she’d always seen Dumbledore as being more of a Christ figure within the series of books (and movies) and what this had done is remove him from the all-powerful, nice character he’s been in the past and made him more human and down to earth.
I don’t know that I agree with the assessment of Dumbledore as being a type of Christ, rather, I think he holds the same spot that Gandolf holds in The Lord of the Rings where he guides and directs, where he can die, but he’s not the one who has to travel through death and return the other side as victor. To me, Harry is the protagonist AND, if a connection is to be made, the Christ figure.
It was, absolutely, the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. I think one of the reasons this is such a good movie is the change in director. After the first two movies, Christopher Columbus, a director of mostly children’s movies, got tired of doing the Harry Potter movies and moved on. The producers have hired different directors for the past three movies. Each one has a different tone and flavor to it. The movies, themselves, have grown up with the audience watching the movies. The outcome, the movies, like the books, are darker, more adult, dealing with complex and unpleasant themes.
The book, which was very long, was gutted and worked so that the story was shared without showing too much of the Easter eggs or odd-bits that the first few movies seemed to have to have. With that said, though, there were a lot of little bits and pieces all throughout the film that helped carry the muggle audience in to the world of sorcery and magic. Even though there are fewer examples of random magic, the ones that do exist are there to help the audience feel as though they exist within the world of Harry Potter.
Couple all of that with an amazing movie score (the music) and I really, really enjoyed the movie. I think I could just sit and listen to the music without having to see the movie. It was not overbearing, it was fun to listen to, and when the credits were rolling (I was partially waiting in case the producers/director put in an egg for the next movie) I just sat there and enjoyed the Celtic themed movie.
In summation, if you are looking for a good movie that makes you think, puts you on the edge of your seat, and is an overall enjoyable experience, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is definitely one that is worth the insane cost of the ticket and the time spent waiting in line to see the movie – though it is probably not worth the hassle of going early in the day when all of the principle audience (children and teens) are out of school and are dragging their parents to see it.
The movie was fun.
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