I saw the fifth Harry Potter movie over the weekend. Since I don't want the last update to continue to be sports related (since it annoys 2/3rds of the people who read this blog) let's see if I can remember anything about it.
First, let's go quickly go over the first four books/movies.
Sorcerer Stone - Harry Potter finds out he's a wizard and gets to go to a school. The book is a hit because it actually makes school look fun, making it a hit with teenagers/young adults. Kids probably read it too.
Chamber of Secrets - Basically, Sorcerer Stone but a little darker.
Prisoner of Azkaban - FORGET Chamber of Secrets! We're REALLY DARK! So dark, the director of this movie is going to make the whole movie dark.
Goblet of Fire - Ok, so it's gotten really dark, so we'll make a fun book. ... HA! Suckers! VOLDEMORT IS BACK! EAT DEATH, MINOR CHARACTER!
So that brings us up to the longest book in the series, something about a phoenix. Ok, so it's Order of the Phoenix, but it usually takes me a minute or two to remember that title. Of all the books, that's the one I have trouble recalling. I can certainly pick out scenes here and there, but overall I can't remember the general plotline. I think there were scenes that I recalled from this book but I would wonder if they were really from the fourth or sixth one.
POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT LURK AHEAD!
Let's forget all that and go to the movie. The movie starts with the Dementor attack from the novel. After the fourth novel dumped the Dursleys, I was wondering if that was the last time we were going to see them. I was also wondering about Harry's cousin, who was a fat runt the last time we saw him. I had to check to see if it was the same actor, because he was much bigger in this movie, and appropriate for the role. (He seemed to be cross-eyed, which I thought was weird.) Later we see Harry's horrible step-parents. The movie omits one of the more interesting scenes from the novel where a letter makes Harry's aunt stay a little longer. Instead, they just hear about Harry's expulsion, and I like the uncle's one-worded response. Speaking of the uncle, he looked a little cross-eyed and sick in this film. I hope the actor is ok, but now that I think of it, I wonder if the eyes were meant to be a reference to the sixth novel.
The Order of the Phoenix arrives to take Harry away. We're introduced to a few key characters and not-so key characters. We get to see the real Mad-Eye Moody, and I think it's a shame that the last one doesn't count. From the novel, I imagined Moody to be sort of a no-nonense kind of guy, but I thought the actor made the character likable in a crazy kind of way. The next character we meet is Shacklebolt, who gets a good line but doesn't do much else. The last character we meet is Tonks.
Tonks is an interesting character in that she seems to be a fan favorite despite her limited screen time. I admit that at the beginning of the sixth book when she rescues Harry from the train, my first reaction was, "Who!?" She gets little screen time, so it wasn't really necessary to include the "Don't call me Nymphadora!" scene, unless we're suppose to laugh at her silly name. Which I will. Nymph! Ha! I think the most memorable thing her character ever did was make a lot of Americans ask what the heck 'wotcher' meant.
The movie introduces an actual important character when the students wait for their carriage to arrive. When I was imagining Luna Lovegood, I thought of her as being a little more goofy, probably because the illustrations in the book nudged me more in that direction. In this movie, the actress makes her more spaced-out. Despite the fact that she reminds me of a blonde version of one of my cousins, I eventually accepted this. It's just too bad that this movie didn't include one of my favorite scenes from the book, where Luna wears a lion's head and shows it off to Harry before a quidditch match.
Finally we see Umbrage at Harry's trial and at the beginning of the school year. She was one of the most evil characters in the series and the actress did a great job at making her so unlikable.
Still, the best character in the movie is the actor who plays Filch. I had forgotten that he was really into Umbrage's reign and the movie has fun with him putting up every education decree. One of the funniest scenes is when he's waiting for Harry's "Army of Dumbledore" to come out of their secret hiding place. It's interesting the kind of mileage they can get out of a minor character.
I think that's enough for characters. Let's move on to some stuff that happens in the film. (I apologize for the jumbledness of this post, but I've only seen this movie once and my bad memory is making me recall the film in bits and pieces.)
One things I remember while reading the book was that Harry was kinda a jerk. Even given all the trauma he had gone through, I still thought he was losing his temper way too often. The movie dropped some of the scenes where Harry blew his top so he wasn't as angry. The only scene after his first detention where he really lost it was when Dumbledore was ignoring him after the snake bit Ron's father. By the way, the snake attack was a bit shocking for a family movie and I think the PG-13 rating is more justified here than in the last movie.
One of the scenes I was looking forward to was when George and Fred revolted. On a side note, it's kind of a shame that their business hasn't been developed in the movies, but I understand that it's a pain for the movie makers to make a two and a half hour movie. The revolt is good, but it's nowhere near as crazy as the book. I think in the book they were unleashing whirlwinds and they got one of the ghosts to assist but here they just set off a ton of fireworks. It's not quite as a "HELL YEAH!" moment as in the book.
The short-lived relationship between Harry and Cho is also short-lived in the film series. Here, the films just make Umbrage force the truth about the Dumbledore Army by truth potion, and then we get a brief scene where Harry blows off Cho. Oh, and on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE (at least for you people who haven't read the books) Ginny gets very few lines, even though she fights with Harry at the end.
I was surprised that they added Gwarp to the movie. I guess they had to justify the obligatory scenes with Hagrid but I wouldn't have been surprised if they cut his half-brother out.
The movie ends with Harry and his close friends going to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Harry's godfather. This is where the movie out-darks the last two films. It reminds me of the look of Batman Returns. I can't remember much about the end of the book, only that Sirius is killed by crazy Bellatrix and falls behind a veil. I never understoof the poin of the veil, since a killing curse is enough. (The movie has her sneak attack Sirius instead of letting Sirius's pride being a part of his downfall.)
The movie has a standoff where Harry is forced to handover the mcguffin to Lucius Malfoy. I don't remember if that was a part of the novel, but it seemed like the series should have ended at this poin. Instead, the Order of the Phoenix shows up in white streaks of light and they fight the death eaters who turn into black streaks of light for some reason. I don't recall that in the novels at all. It was ok, but a bit silly how that got the DA out of the jam they were in.
On a positive note, the death eaters don't look as silly as they did in the last movie. The KKK is really scary, but the poiny-hat death eaters weren't so much. I thought the masks in this movie were an improvement.
Finally we get to the big showdown in the film and novel. Voldemort vs Dumbledore. For me, I remember it in the novel like this: "And then Voldemort shows up! But Dumbledore also shows up! They're fighting! Look at all the pretty lights! Oops, it's a tie, Voldemort leaves." I forgot about the part where Voldemort tried to possess Harry. I guess I'm a crappy reader.
The movie ends, and here I think the cuts hurt the worst. Harry Potter doesn't seem to be that badly affected by the events that happen during the movie. In the book, he's absolutely furious at Dumbledore but here they just have their usual chat. The wrap up also seems to cheerful. It's too bad. Maybe the DVD will have a ton of deleted scenes, but I'm not counting on it.
I hate to end on a down note, because I still enjoy this series. I'm glad my sister brought me to the first couple films and that my friend Lita encouraged me to read the books. Now bring on Half-Blood Prince!
YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS, POTTER?!? HUH?!?!?
