This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Action, Drama, Family, Fantasy Adventure, H, Thriller/Mystery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Gary Oldman, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch.
It’s here! It’s here! With the long awaited book #7 on the verge of release, Harry Potter mania was at frenzy level when this movie, based on book #5 was released. It may be the adolescent girl in me, but I am a Potter fan. I have read all the books (okay, okay, yes, more than once) and book 5 is my favorite, so my expectations may have been a tad high going into this one, but this is the weakest of the Potter movie efforts, thus far. Although, still an enjoyable film, the editor’s knife was a little sharp here. Although, it is already just over two hours, this is the longest Potter book and has been made into the shortest Potter movie. The result, in some spots, are short, almost choppy scenes that seem more suited to the trailer than the main feature. If Yates had put in another half hour or so, this effect may have been eliminated. The story is good, however, and the young cast is improving. The effects are good but also missing are the slow tacking shots that gave Hogwarts much of its wonder.
Harry, Hermione and Ron are all back and times at Hogwarts are hard. The Ministry For Magic is denying the return of evil incarnate, Lord Voldemort, and is out to discredit both Harry and Dumbledore who is played by Michael Gambon, like he has never read the Potter books. The Adult characters have formed a secret society (The Order of The Phoenix) to combat Voldemort’s followers, the Death Eaters, while Harry and friends prepare to defend themselves in these dangerous times, and battle against the new ministry-approved (and anti-Harry and Dumbledore), Hogwarts presence, Delores Umbridge (played very well by Staunton), by forming a secret defense against the dark arts club. The characters are getting older and teenage romance is here, as well. it is in these areas that Yates seemed to want to save the most time, and his method is the use of montages and short, quickly cut scenes. This hurts the end product, but it is difficult for me to gauge how this affects non-Potter readers’ ability to follow the story.
Potter fans will support this film, of course, and enjoy seeing another book brought to life on the big screen. The story here is darker and more about conflict than mystery. The growing numbers of characters compete for screen time, but it’s still an entry in a top-notch fantasy adventure series. I’m sure that many of the legions of Potter fans will take issue with any criticism and I certainly have been critical here. This is still a good movie. I just can’t help thinking how much better it could have been.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Definitely the best movie of the series so far.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:49 am
We will just have to agree to disagree on this one. Peace :)