I feel like I say this with the advent of every movie, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the BEST ONE YET.
Prior to OotP, my favorite was …and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Not to detract anything from Chris Columbus (Rent was, after all, great), but his take on …and the Sorcerer’s Stone and …and the Chamber of Secrets was a bit too rose-colored for me. Alfonso Cuaron took the helm of Azkaban and made the story as dark as it is and had been until that point.
I was really hoping Cuaron would do …and the Goblet of Fire, too, but scheduling wouldn’t permit. I thought Mike Newell did a good job, but I feel Cuaron would’ve seen it much differently and more in keeping with the prevalent themes of the book.
Anyway, but yeah. David Yates? Better than Cuaron. And I’m so psyched to hear that he’s directing …and the Half-Blood Prince *and* …and the Deathly Hallows as well.
Yates’ take made this movie the darkest of them yet, which is how it should be — after all this is the first book that really gave us a glimpse into Harry’s internal battle with himself and his surging anger and frustration with all that was happening.
Harry truly felt alone through most of the book, and Yates did a spectacular job at conveying that on film. There’s one scene where he’s standing up on a hill looking down at Hogwarts and the surrounding scenery, and the camera angle Yates employed gave the entire scene such an eerie, solitary feel to it — it truly looked as though Harry were the only person in the world at that moment.
Even the way the movie opened gave me chills — the camera zeroes in on the empty playground. The colors are very bleak, and the way the merry-go-round thingie is spinning sort of off-kilter and erratically was truly creepy. Also, the dementors were so much scarier than they were in GoF.
Whoever was in charge of casting these movies is amazing. As with the previous installments, the casting of OotP was spot on. Tonks — amazing. Luna Lovegood? Fantastic. Umbridge? I have to say, the casting of Imelda Staunton was sheer perfection. She had the annoying girlish giggle and the little cough down. It was like she walked out of the pages of the book. And of course, what can you say about Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange? Psychotically brilliant.
The special effects — particuarly the riding of the thestrals and the showdowns between the Order and the Death Eaters, and then Dumbledore and Voldemort — were breath-taking.
I loved Harry taking charge of “Dumbledore’s Army” and the Room of Requirement. One would imagine it only natural that these kids would’ve bonded after, what, seven years of filming together, but the chemistry really shows. Neville and Seamus and Dean, Parvati and, erm, her twin, Cho Chang — it’s still so awesome to see them up on screen.
What a superb cast — and how strange is it to see such lauded actors as Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Dame Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Gary Oldman, and Ralph Fiennes relegated to such (relatively) limited screen time?
Funny note — when we first see Hermione (after Harry has been taken to Order headquarters and she tackles him in a hug) it was hilarious and a little startling because in two years, Emma Watson has gotten so frakking tall. She completely engulfs little Daniel Radcliffe and I started laughing. You could tell Yates was trying to do everything he could with the camera to make her seem smaller than him.
Anyway. This movie was beyond amazing. I’m going to see it again with my sister tomorrow, and when the kids get back from their month in hell, I’ll see it again with them — this time on the IMAX.
Go see it.
Now.
