Order of the Phoenix Review
Jul. 12th, 2007 01:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinDear Warner Brothers,
Why oh why oh why oh why did you not hire Michael Goldthingy as writer from the start? Can he please stay?
Also I was very sad that you did not make Neville's dad Stephen Rea. Do I need to show you the picture again?
Yours truly,
Tealin
NOW with NEW STUFF!
Inconsequential spoilers if you've read the book, great big ones if you haven't:
Before I go any further, I must get this out of the way: there were two things about this movie that I did not like. One was how Bellatrix's face on the tapestry was basically a photo with a tapestry texture on it whereas everyone else looked nice and medieval. The other was that the sense of urgency one feels in the book for rescuing Sirius after Harry has that vision of him is not as strong in the movie. Harry has the vision, tries to tell Snape, then gets distracted by putting an end to Umbridge, and then it's 'Oh yeah! Sirius!' and off to the Ministry. It may be just because of the internal monologue in the narration but the urgency of Sirius's situation never seems to go away in the book, as far as I can remember.
While the fundamental structure thing that bugs me* was preserved – the story wouldn't be at all the same without it – overall I thought the adaptation was a good one. I remember reading the book and thinking '700+ pages and hardly anything happens!' Well, they took all the things that happened and strung them together and left the non-happenings behind in the pages of the book, and lo! There was a plot under there after all!
*the disconnect between the central conflict (Dumbledore vs Ministry) and the climax (Dumbledore vs Voldemort)
Full marks for efficiency. Things were established with the minimum of pomp and circumstance and in proportion to their importance to the plot. Of course there was a lot left out; what was kept in was what serviced the central drive of the plot. This is the difference between a movie and a book.** A book can dawdle on scenes and atmosphere and get sidetracked however much it likes (despite my personal preferences) but a movie has to tell a story in a limited amount of time and keep its audience along for the ride until it's done. If you want a billion little character details and every line of dialogue, read the book. When we're in the movie theatre, we're there for a different sort of experience.
**well, story-wise, I mean. Obviously one's words on paper and the other is images on film with an accompanying soundtrack...
Anyway, efficiency. Specifics which come to mind:
- Luna was established as a loopy yet sincere girl without a gratuitous ten-minute sequence that existed solely for the purpose of saying 'Isn't Luna weird? Look how weird she is!' For how important she is to the plot, her screen presence was just right. All that stuff with the Quibbler and her weird outfits and stuff is nice filler in the books but really not that important.
- Harry and Hermione congratulating Neville on his discovery of the Room of Requirement done as a voiceover to his astonished face, killing two birds with one stone, eliminating the need for an extraneous scene in which they do so in person and moving the Dumbledore's Army storyline along.
- I don't remember what plot point it is now but I remember what the shot looked like: it was a downshot of Harry in a hallway near a doorway, possibly with the room beyond the doorway brighter lit than the hall, and there were paintings. Anyway, he drops a line that, in an amazing example of not underestimating the audience's intelligence, establishes something quickly and simply for anyone conscious enough to draw a mental line. I really wish I could remember what it was.
- The Umbridge Takeover Montage: Embrace the montage. Enjoy the montage. Love the montage. That took care of about six chapters of the book in what, three minutes? And it told you all you need to know. Umbridge takes control. Umbridge is a tool of the Ministry. Umbridge is a sadistic piece of work. Umbridge has it in for the other teachers. Filch likes her. Zip, bang, you're done, in a stylish bit of snazzy filmmaking that was like a well-choreographed dance. It reminded me a lot of how the 'Let's Have Lunch' number in the musical of Sunset Boulevard establishes in three minutes what it takes seven minutes for the movie to do, and in a much more entertaining way, so you hardly even realize it's establishment.
- Mr Weasley just arrives at Grimmauld Place after his stay at the hospital. I liked seeing Lockhart at the hospital and getting insight into Neville's family life but you know what? The movie isn't about Lockhart or Neville, it's about Harry, and Mr Weasley is important to Harry because Harry feels somewhat responsible for his injury. Also the vindication of Harry's vision proves his link with Voldemort which drives the plot forward. See? It's all about the plot.
- Fred and George's dropout scene had just the right amount of leadup and didn't revel in miles of CG. It had a punch and then it was over, which made the punch that much punchier.
- Harry's romance with Cho is mercifully trimmed down and – NO WAY – actually tied into the plot. It's no longer a freefloating storyline, it eliminates a useless extraneous character and gives the affair some purpose in the grander thread of things. THANK YOU.
- Snape's Worst Memory: I'm sure lots of people will be annoyed that this was too short. It's my favourite part of the book too, but you know what? We saw all we needed to see. James and Sirius bullied Snape when they were in school. That's all that really matters, and that's what we see. Keeping it quick-cut like that, too, helps tie it in stylistically what what Snape sees in Harry's head, so we know it's a memory and not a flashback or something else. Having Harry fight back and end up seeing into Snape's mind during an Occlumency lesson also eliminates the need for an extraneous 'Hello, a convenient Pensieve!' scene which would feel a little contrived.
At first the sort of crime-show-style cinematography took some getting used to, but it really worked. It set the sense of tension throughout the film and also made it feel a lot more grown up.
Imelda Staunton was fabulous as Dolores Umbridge. Costuming and set decoration did their part as well. Hmm, we have a villain who is funny and evil but requires a good sense of delivery to get this across. I know, let's cast A COMEDY ACTRESS. (Why is this concept so hard to grasp?)
Bellatrix ... a female Jack Sparrow?
Actually, in general, timing was very well done. Funny things especially. I found in previous films that the timing sort of deadened what ought to have been amusing, but what few comedic scenes were in it were very well-timed. I think for the first time I have watched a Potter film and not had any lines of dialogue jar me with a delivery that contradicts either what is clearly stated in the book or is necessary for the scene ... though I haven't read the fifth book much so maybe I'm just not familiar enough with the dialogue.
Sirius's death scene, as a death scene, was almost as disappointing as it was in the book, with two important riders: 1. Sirius is no longer a miserable housebound non-character (well, he's still housebound as far as we know but no time is spent on that because it isn't important) so his death didn't seem quite so spontaneous or gratuitous; 2. The way that whole scene and the aftermath was set up, it wasn't about Sirius, it was about Harry.
Visuals: awesome. I loved all the location designs (as usual they were much better than what I've been seeing in my head) and Grimmauld Place was, in particular, perfect. All the London stuff made me want to go back. Costumes were cool too; they struck a nice balance between robes and 'Muggle' uniforms with casual dress occasionally. Umbridge's outfits were priceless – even the textures were twee. I would like, someday, to see a two-dimensional image in one of the movies not move, but I think the kitten plates were described as animated in the book so I can't grumble. And there's still the rickety nonsense bridge, but I suppose that's movie canon now.
Nice subtle effects. I don't know what the wind/smoke trail stuff was supposed to be in the fight at the end but it looked fantastic. There also wasn't an excess of squirmy CG creatures and stuff cluttering up shots or incessantly moving so they get points for that too. What creatures there were were well-rendered and animated and used sparingly but effectively. The thestrals got double points from me because I'd been studying horse anatomy all day and they got it very right! Yay!
I liked the flying-through-newspapers thing. Another nice succinct establishment technique ... with flair!
Acting: actually happened. Progress! (to be fair, Movie 4 wasn't bad, but still...) Have I ever mentioned I love Emma Thompson? And, okay, this isn't an actor and was probably more the responsibility of the scriptwriter, but they somehow managed to make me not hate every moment with Grawp in it. Someday I would like to see a movie with Emma Watson and Orlando Bloom in it together, possibly playing siblings because she's starting to look a lot like him. An interplay of their acting styles might be ... interesting.
Dumbledore. He was actually Dumbledore this time – old, but with sparkle and fire and inner strength and sticking it to the man! Why has it taken five movies to get him this close to canon? And he's only got one more film!
And to wrap it up: This movie gets the closest of any of them to the tone I felt when reading the book. I'm sure tone is a subjective, personal thing, but for once the director's interpretation and my own have very nearly converged. I like this feeling.
I am falling asleep. Three hours till I have to be up for work. I might add some more tomorrow but I'm turning into a pumpkin right now. Night, all!
Why oh why oh why oh why did you not hire Michael Goldthingy as writer from the start? Can he please stay?
Also I was very sad that you did not make Neville's dad Stephen Rea. Do I need to show you the picture again?
Yours truly,
Tealin
Inconsequential spoilers if you've read the book, great big ones if you haven't:
Before I go any further, I must get this out of the way: there were two things about this movie that I did not like. One was how Bellatrix's face on the tapestry was basically a photo with a tapestry texture on it whereas everyone else looked nice and medieval. The other was that the sense of urgency one feels in the book for rescuing Sirius after Harry has that vision of him is not as strong in the movie. Harry has the vision, tries to tell Snape, then gets distracted by putting an end to Umbridge, and then it's 'Oh yeah! Sirius!' and off to the Ministry. It may be just because of the internal monologue in the narration but the urgency of Sirius's situation never seems to go away in the book, as far as I can remember.
While the fundamental structure thing that bugs me* was preserved – the story wouldn't be at all the same without it – overall I thought the adaptation was a good one. I remember reading the book and thinking '700+ pages and hardly anything happens!' Well, they took all the things that happened and strung them together and left the non-happenings behind in the pages of the book, and lo! There was a plot under there after all!
*the disconnect between the central conflict (Dumbledore vs Ministry) and the climax (Dumbledore vs Voldemort)
Full marks for efficiency. Things were established with the minimum of pomp and circumstance and in proportion to their importance to the plot. Of course there was a lot left out; what was kept in was what serviced the central drive of the plot. This is the difference between a movie and a book.** A book can dawdle on scenes and atmosphere and get sidetracked however much it likes (despite my personal preferences) but a movie has to tell a story in a limited amount of time and keep its audience along for the ride until it's done. If you want a billion little character details and every line of dialogue, read the book. When we're in the movie theatre, we're there for a different sort of experience.
**well, story-wise, I mean. Obviously one's words on paper and the other is images on film with an accompanying soundtrack...
Anyway, efficiency. Specifics which come to mind:
- Luna was established as a loopy yet sincere girl without a gratuitous ten-minute sequence that existed solely for the purpose of saying 'Isn't Luna weird? Look how weird she is!' For how important she is to the plot, her screen presence was just right. All that stuff with the Quibbler and her weird outfits and stuff is nice filler in the books but really not that important.
- Harry and Hermione congratulating Neville on his discovery of the Room of Requirement done as a voiceover to his astonished face, killing two birds with one stone, eliminating the need for an extraneous scene in which they do so in person and moving the Dumbledore's Army storyline along.
- I don't remember what plot point it is now but I remember what the shot looked like: it was a downshot of Harry in a hallway near a doorway, possibly with the room beyond the doorway brighter lit than the hall, and there were paintings. Anyway, he drops a line that, in an amazing example of not underestimating the audience's intelligence, establishes something quickly and simply for anyone conscious enough to draw a mental line. I really wish I could remember what it was.
- The Umbridge Takeover Montage: Embrace the montage. Enjoy the montage. Love the montage. That took care of about six chapters of the book in what, three minutes? And it told you all you need to know. Umbridge takes control. Umbridge is a tool of the Ministry. Umbridge is a sadistic piece of work. Umbridge has it in for the other teachers. Filch likes her. Zip, bang, you're done, in a stylish bit of snazzy filmmaking that was like a well-choreographed dance. It reminded me a lot of how the 'Let's Have Lunch' number in the musical of Sunset Boulevard establishes in three minutes what it takes seven minutes for the movie to do, and in a much more entertaining way, so you hardly even realize it's establishment.
- Mr Weasley just arrives at Grimmauld Place after his stay at the hospital. I liked seeing Lockhart at the hospital and getting insight into Neville's family life but you know what? The movie isn't about Lockhart or Neville, it's about Harry, and Mr Weasley is important to Harry because Harry feels somewhat responsible for his injury. Also the vindication of Harry's vision proves his link with Voldemort which drives the plot forward. See? It's all about the plot.
- Fred and George's dropout scene had just the right amount of leadup and didn't revel in miles of CG. It had a punch and then it was over, which made the punch that much punchier.
- Harry's romance with Cho is mercifully trimmed down and – NO WAY – actually tied into the plot. It's no longer a freefloating storyline, it eliminates a useless extraneous character and gives the affair some purpose in the grander thread of things. THANK YOU.
- Snape's Worst Memory: I'm sure lots of people will be annoyed that this was too short. It's my favourite part of the book too, but you know what? We saw all we needed to see. James and Sirius bullied Snape when they were in school. That's all that really matters, and that's what we see. Keeping it quick-cut like that, too, helps tie it in stylistically what what Snape sees in Harry's head, so we know it's a memory and not a flashback or something else. Having Harry fight back and end up seeing into Snape's mind during an Occlumency lesson also eliminates the need for an extraneous 'Hello, a convenient Pensieve!' scene which would feel a little contrived.
At first the sort of crime-show-style cinematography took some getting used to, but it really worked. It set the sense of tension throughout the film and also made it feel a lot more grown up.
Imelda Staunton was fabulous as Dolores Umbridge. Costuming and set decoration did their part as well. Hmm, we have a villain who is funny and evil but requires a good sense of delivery to get this across. I know, let's cast A COMEDY ACTRESS. (Why is this concept so hard to grasp?)
Bellatrix ... a female Jack Sparrow?
Actually, in general, timing was very well done. Funny things especially. I found in previous films that the timing sort of deadened what ought to have been amusing, but what few comedic scenes were in it were very well-timed. I think for the first time I have watched a Potter film and not had any lines of dialogue jar me with a delivery that contradicts either what is clearly stated in the book or is necessary for the scene ... though I haven't read the fifth book much so maybe I'm just not familiar enough with the dialogue.
Sirius's death scene, as a death scene, was almost as disappointing as it was in the book, with two important riders: 1. Sirius is no longer a miserable housebound non-character (well, he's still housebound as far as we know but no time is spent on that because it isn't important) so his death didn't seem quite so spontaneous or gratuitous; 2. The way that whole scene and the aftermath was set up, it wasn't about Sirius, it was about Harry.
Visuals: awesome. I loved all the location designs (as usual they were much better than what I've been seeing in my head) and Grimmauld Place was, in particular, perfect. All the London stuff made me want to go back. Costumes were cool too; they struck a nice balance between robes and 'Muggle' uniforms with casual dress occasionally. Umbridge's outfits were priceless – even the textures were twee. I would like, someday, to see a two-dimensional image in one of the movies not move, but I think the kitten plates were described as animated in the book so I can't grumble. And there's still the rickety nonsense bridge, but I suppose that's movie canon now.
Nice subtle effects. I don't know what the wind/smoke trail stuff was supposed to be in the fight at the end but it looked fantastic. There also wasn't an excess of squirmy CG creatures and stuff cluttering up shots or incessantly moving so they get points for that too. What creatures there were were well-rendered and animated and used sparingly but effectively. The thestrals got double points from me because I'd been studying horse anatomy all day and they got it very right! Yay!
I liked the flying-through-newspapers thing. Another nice succinct establishment technique ... with flair!
Acting: actually happened. Progress! (to be fair, Movie 4 wasn't bad, but still...) Have I ever mentioned I love Emma Thompson? And, okay, this isn't an actor and was probably more the responsibility of the scriptwriter, but they somehow managed to make me not hate every moment with Grawp in it. Someday I would like to see a movie with Emma Watson and Orlando Bloom in it together, possibly playing siblings because she's starting to look a lot like him. An interplay of their acting styles might be ... interesting.
Dumbledore. He was actually Dumbledore this time – old, but with sparkle and fire and inner strength and sticking it to the man! Why has it taken five movies to get him this close to canon? And he's only got one more film!
And to wrap it up: This movie gets the closest of any of them to the tone I felt when reading the book. I'm sure tone is a subjective, personal thing, but for once the director's interpretation and my own have very nearly converged. I like this feeling.
I am falling asleep. Three hours till I have to be up for work. I might add some more tomorrow but I'm turning into a pumpkin right now. Night, all!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Hey there...
Date: 2007-07-26 11:31 pm (UTC)First, the actor who plays Dumbledore is awful. Yeah, we can't have the awesomeness of the original Richard Harris anymore, but the new one is just bad. He seems out of place and always seems like he's feeling awkward with the situation he's in. Like when Umbridge threatened his job in front of the students, he yelled at the kids. WTH? Almost as bad as shaking Harry in GOF. The book-Dumbledore is ALWAYS jovial regardless of what's going on. He should just always look like he's in on a joke that no one else knows...that would fix it.
Second, the CGI folks needed to tune it down a bit with the shroud Sirius falls through. I mean, I would've preferred a ratty drape being moved by a fan off screen. Then Sirius could've been stunned (not AK-ed) into it, and than not come out the other side...more mysterious, awesome death.
So those are my only real gripes with the movie. Luna was awesome. Umbridge was perfect. Bella makes me giggle. The transitions and montage were beautiful. Tonks was hot! *glee*
Oh, and the idea that Death Eaters/Order Members are more advanced magically than the DA was nice. I remember reading the books thinking that Voldemort hired a buncha 'tards for his followers...not even being able to take out a couple of kids! Pssh. So the flying, smoke & lasers was cool. :-)
Anyway, thanks again for giving me a good HP distraction from work and some great ideas for my own Pottery Art!