Thursday, July 12, 2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

For the first time in my life, I have got my self so ready to watch a movie even a night before the movie started. I arrived in front of the cinema exactly an hour before, ready to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a huge Potter fan (books and movies), I determined to concentrate fully on everything about this movie so that I can give a fair review on this fifth installment of Harry Potter movies.

As usual, I prefer to go watching Harry Potter movies by my self because to me, this is the time when I can see my imagination comes to life. It's my private moment where I could make connection with all my imaginary characters.
Thanks to my hubby, I got the worst seat in the cinema. He was the one that chose that seat for me the night before when he collected the ticket for me. I wonder if he did it deliberately because I refused to take him along... ;)
Luckily, I could move seat to get a better view though at the end, I encountered a much worst disturbance right next to me when the person sat next to me fell asleep and snored so loudly through out the 3/4 part of the movie... :(

Anyway, the movie started 5 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. For 2 hour and 18 minutes I was blown away by the spectacular visual effect and by the marvellous acting of all casts, old and new ones. I definitely see how Daniel Radcliffe's acting has improved tremendously. He really was successful to bring out the deepest emotion of Harry Potter in the most perfect way. Dan is brilliant! Dan embodies Harry Potter perfectly. He has made me even more difficult to separate him and Harry himself. This shows how he really is serious about taking his career as a great actor.
Emma Watson is superb and Rupert Grint are great too. Basically, all old casts really did their job marvelously. I can see how they have become 1 big family.
The new casts are comparably wonderful too. They are perfect for each role they portray.
There is one particular new cast that really drew my attention: Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. She has done a great job as Luna Lovegood.
She is so successful in portraying Luna Lovegood just like what I imagined when I read the book. To me, she has acted far better than Katie Leung who plays Cho Chang.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange are successful in making me hate their characters so much. They both looked so evil and cruel.

The fighting scene at Ministry of Magic office was cool with all the visual effect but unfortunately it was too short and quite abruptly cut to quickly end the movie.
And for the script, this movie was not great either because it has removed too many important moments and scenes on the book and replacing them with a different version to build up and to connect the storyline which was quite disturbing for those Potter book fans. Understandable though because it is so impossible to fit every thing in a 2hour and 18 minute-movie.

But overall, David Yates has done a marvelous job. He has his own vision on book 5. It was a great movie to watch even if you never read any of Harry Potter books before. This movie sends a very good message about conquering the evil within and also about love and friendship. I laughed, I cried, I got mad together with all characters in the movie. I felt I was there with them until the movie ends and I reluctantly had to get back to the reality.
Oh I wish it never ends. I have to wait for another year at least to be able to jump in to my imagination. I hope next week when the last book is out, I am able to find Harry smile because he finally finds his true happiness in life. I literally held my breath and I was so intense when I saw him fighting to conquer the evil inside him. I wish I could just hug him and give him strength and tell him that everything is gonna be alright. Unfortunately, it's all only in the movie.

One advice before you decide to watch this movie, just like the book, every Potter movie gets darker and scarier than the previous ones. It is definitely not a children movie at all. It's good if you can watch it alone so that you can connect your feeling privately just like I did... :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

it's not a kid's movie??

coffeeliqueur said...

Welcome back, John!
Well, I definitely won't take my son to watch this movie or he will run away and hide under the chairs...:D

Anonymous said...

haven't got a chance to see the movie; maybe i'm too old for it :)

still, i'm curiously awaiting for the last book of Potter.

coffeeliqueur said...

no..no..I don't think anyone is too old to watch Harry Potter movies.
I hope you get a chance to watch it. It's a great movie!