Three words: the best yet. Here are the top 8 reasons why:
2. The storytelling was more “mature”. I think it’a also because the characters have matured.
3. Great battle scenes.
4. No unnecessary details (as in HP 1 and 2)
5. Superb visualization of Harry and Voldemort’s thoughts and connections
6. The Weasley Twins. Nuff said.
7. Action action action!
8. It was directed by David Yates.
Though most accolades would fall first on the faces on the screen, something has to be said about the screenplay and direction. The story began with dark Dementor action, and the stuffy, brooding mood continued all throughout the movie. The actors showed more emotion here
, though had less lines. I liked that they were reacting to events now. In the past I felt they were being made to simply act out what was in the books.
(But I guess for the franchise to continue to make money, you have to satisfy the audience. And HP’s particular audience is very critical. Everything has to be exactly as it was in the book. Blame Chris Columbus for spoiling them. And JK for agreeing.)
I liked that the screenplay was able to drill down to the most important events that happened in the book: the training, the Ministry of Magic scenes and Umbridge’s take over of Hogwarts. They also used the Daily Prophet to tie up the story, which worked quite well, in my opinion, and replaced the need to include small items just to tie everything up.
I had to Google David Yates’s name to find out who he was. Turns out, he’s a little known British film and TV director (well, little-known to this Hollywood-saturated movie industry) who made his bones making critically acclaimed TV series for the BBC. One of the most mentioned is his Emmy award-winning, HBO-Produced film, The Girl in the Café. I’ve yet to see it (downloading now as I type this), but I have a feeling I will not be disappointed.
Because of this, Yates was able to play up the action scenes. They were exciting, and very well executed. I can see people brandishing imaginary wands now. Gary Oldman does a mean Expelliarmus spell, hehe.
The visuals were superb! I liked the way Harry and Voldemort’s thought were presented. Very graphic, very nicely edited. I also liked that there were flashbacks… a very simple, and basic way to tie up crucial events from past movies. (Why didn’t an
yone think of that?) It was particularly interesting, the way Harry and Voldemort’s inner thoughts would switch from in-their-minds to actually-happening. Great use of special effects too.
The actors were all grown up: the boys were taller and broader, the girls were developing their bumps and curves. I wanted more character development though, as usual. But there were just so many players. I wish they figured out a strategy in the first movie to continuously build the characters in each succeeding film so that they wouldn’t feel so flat in the present film. Case in point: Luna Lovegood. She was played by brilliant young actress Evanna Lynch. I liked Luna, and I liked the actress who played her. I missed Ron though – oh he was there, but there was much much less of the Ron-ness I’ve come to love in the books. I guess some things have to be sacrificed. The Weasley Twins shined here, especially their mutiny of the OWLs exams. Neville cannot be pushed around anymore, having grown taller than the rest of his batchmates. But he’s still geeky. Geeky but brave.
The main criticisms for this film are similar with the past films: a bit disjointed, still linear, tighter character development needed, big name stars = tiny, tiny roles. However Dolores Umbridge, played by veteran British actress Imelda Staunton took the role and made it hers. She was great: scary, rotten, grotesque but impeccably dressed in pink. I got a bit cabin fever too: shots were always tight and 95% of the movie was shot indoors. Even though there were the occasional aerial shots and flying scenes, there wasn’t enough breathing space in my opinion. I felt there were only really 5 sets, hehe, and they just made different décor for each.
Scenes to be excited about: the training of Dumbledore’s army (they didn’t play that up by the way. I think it was only mentioned once), the fight scenes at the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort’s momentary possession of Harry. The Kissing Scene? Well, it wasn’t much really. They looked like two kids trying to figure out how to unfold a Transformer. It was awkward. 
Truth be told, I couldn’t look. Hehehe. And I liked the change that they made for Dumbledore and Harry's post-adventure debriefing: no preaching. Just introspection. And Harry shared his thoughts with his friends.
Harry Potter and the Order of the
1 comment:
A lot of Potter purists hated it, but I actually loved PoA (the movie). It had an artfilm feel that surprised me. OotP comes a firm second :)
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