Hello All;
So sorry that these are late. Potter-philes everywhere have been hounding me for weeks now. Not really. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. (SPOILER WARNING in inviso-text)
:[ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the shortest of all the movies so far, yet is based on the longest of all the novels. As a result I felt that for the first time that I was watching a Harry Potter MOVIE rather than an adaptation of the book. If you are a fan of the movies then you will come away feeling that this moved right along at an efficient pace with good action, acting, and special effects.
If you are a fan of the books, you will no doubt, check off all the tiny subplot and minutiae the producers dropped in order to trim down the movie. It does touch on the highlights of the book, meaning Harry’s journey towards a showdown with You-Know-Who. So many threads of the book are dropped so that the filmic threads can play out.
Order of the Phoenix deals with the aftermath of Voldemort’s return, seen in The Goblet of Fire. The Ministry of Magic happily denies the return while denouncing both Harry and Dumbledore. This leads up to McCarthy-esque machinations as the MOM begins to interfere with Hogwart’s staff and curriculum. A new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and Ministry Minion Delores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) is effectively trite and annoying refusing to teach the students how to defend themselves (And teaching only a "Ministry Approved" curriculum.) and eventually comes to run Hogwarts through Ministry Proclamations and goon squads.
Meanwhile, Harry must deal with a distant Dumbledore, a link to Voldemrt’s mind, Umbridge’s detentions, and the realization that more and more people and friends have come to harm or are placed in harm’s way in order to protect him. Throw in hormones, a kiss and this could be any teen drama (sans magic).
Harry, along with friends Ron and Hermione feel they cannot stand by and form Dumbledore’s Army, an underground student group with Harry standing in as a Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. Harry also discovers his place in the War in the form of a prophecy and mind link to Voldemort which leads to a daring rescue of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, the excellent Gary Oldman, in the Ministry’s Hall of Mysteries, culminating in a pitched battle between the reformed Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army.
For me the biggest surprise is Harry, growing up. In my mind (even as I read the books) he’s still just a sprout but when Phoenix flashes back to the previous movies, we see that Harry has come a long way since "The Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone". When Ron and Hermione describe Harry’s exploits to their fellow students I had forgotten how much Harry had already been through. Our Harry is maturing.
It is good to see old and new characters, however brief; Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt are proof that the movies are doing their best to stay with the books and also that the actors are in them to the end to contribute continuity to the remaining movies however small. Oldman’s Black is a welcome return. His scenes with Harry in the Black Family Room are touching. Black represents a chance for family and normalcy to Harry.
When Black is killed by Bellatrix LeStrange in the Hall of Mysteries, Harry must deal with feelings old and new, the feeling of loss and of revenge. I loved how subtle and quick the Sirius’ death scene had come.
This movie does not propel the overall story forward to any large degree. It seems more a character adventure and saddled with keeping the characters fresh until Part 6 and 7 come out. Still, it is an action-packed adventure and unless you are a HUGE fan of the books (And all but YOU are), then you should find "The Order of the Phoenix" the most pleasurable of all the movies. (Unless you are a film snob that digs whatever Wes Anderson does and viewed "Prisoner of Azkaban" only because it was directed by Alfonso Curan of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" fame, and you thought it was "A’ight". I kid. But not really.) I enjoyed this movie and I looked forward to David Yates’ adaptation of "The Half-Blood Prince" and my adaptation of "The Deathly Hallows".
Recommended.
:[ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Now that all the hype has passed, we can stop and take a clear look around and see that yes, we have survived the deathly hallows and our lives go on. J.K. Rowling wraps-up her worldwide best-selling opus on a fast-paced, high note of finality. The series is most definitely over with. For those of you who sat out the series, while you can read it later on, missed out on something special that we have not seen the likes of since, I’m guessing Tolkien’s releases of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Rowling does deserve a place along side him in that she too has created a vast mythology that will span the generations. Yet, in a world of internet and instant-gratification-split-second-attention spans, she has lured millions upon millions to wait on the release of old fashioned, paper-bound books like they wait for tickets for the next big thing. She has made millions of people worldwide to actually sit and read books. (In Tolkien’s Era, books were the norm. Today, they are an inconvenience or device for the pseudo-inltellectuals.)
Deathly Hallows picks up where Half-Blood Prince and its shocking finale leave off with Harry, Ron and Hermione taking up the task given them by Dumbledore, finding the remaining Horcruxes (Introduced in Half-Blood) which contain a fragment of Voldemort’s soul and could be key in rendering him mortal. Meanwhile, the War with Voldemort has escalated with the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters gaining ground constantly.
The book opens with the regular visit with the Dursley’s. It is Harry’s final summer with his care givers and he must say goodbye to them as he comes of age and the protections spells disappear. He must say goodbye to his aunt and uncle and their relationships remain pretty much intact as the scene plays out in usual Dursley fashion ending with two surprisingly touching and tender moments.
Then we are thrust into an action-filled chase to the Burrows, and it is during this chase that we experience the first of several character deaths. The first being such a surprise that I did not see it coming because this character has always been there yet never so much that you would not miss them until they are gone.
Rowling leaves no one safe. Voldemort is out to kill.
From there we are whisked from a wedding to Harry and friends on the run in their journey to find the horcruxes, questioning Dumbledore’s directives all the way, as well as their friendship. The pace leaves many things to be wrapped up quickly, but the story does not suffer from it. We follow Harry, the focus of the books, in a series of extremely daring escapades as the hunt for the horcruxes leads them to the discovery of The Deathly Hallows, three magical objects that allows the bearers to cheat death. Now, Harry is faced with the choice of continuing on what seems an impossible mission for the horcruxes that could defeat the dark lord or finding the Deathly Hallows which could help him survive the inevitable showdown with Voldemort. Harry becomes more tempted to abandon the mission in favor of the Hallows when he learns the dark past of his mentor Dumbledore.
In this book, more that the others as Harry grows to adulthood, he learns that not all adults are what they seem to be, including Dumbledore, his Godfather, and more.
The Death Eaters have been winning the war with more and more submitting to their control. Harry is considered an outlaw. As the trio discover the remaining horcruxes, they are pulled deeper into dangerous situations in which Harry’s bravado balanced with Hermione’s smarts keep them alive to move onto finding the next horcrux. Most thrilling of which is their breaking into the unbreakable bank Gringott’s, culminating in the most exciting and coolest scene of the series. This isn’t Year One and staring wide-eyed at the effects of magic now, it’s fighting for your life. Rowling’s writing separates this grown Harry from the young Harry by instill sheer nerve and magical talent.
Soon, each mission leads them back the Hogwart’s School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, where the war spills onto the school grounds as Harry re-emerges from hiding having decided to face Voldemort and find what could be the final horcrux. Old favorites make return appearances as all the school houses prepare for the battle and the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army re-assemble to make a stand against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. All of which carries Harry to his prophesied confrontation with Voldemort, with twists and turns that fit and a surprising reveal of the final hocrux.
This is indeed the final Potter book.
The book, unlike so many "final parts" keeps us guessing as to the final outcomes. Rowling keeps the tension high throughout the book and the pace and threads built through past books The Deathly Hallows wraps up excellently and Rowling’s writing for the series is at its best.
Much has been made of the high body count but for me it added an urgency to Harry’s exploits and gave real consequences to the war. Those tend to get overlooked from time to time and I applaud Rowling for knowing kids can take it. There are many shocking and surprising deaths. Overall, this is a great read and a fantastic final part of a very long story.
I had to sneak-read my twelve-year-old’s copy or go to the bookstore and read one off the shelves, but I have decided that I want to own my own copy.
Yes, there is a finality to it. I know there will be no more Harry Potter books and your favorite character probably bought it, but questions are answered, surprises revealed, loves sorted, and as seen in the chapters, and much like reality when all the hype died down, life goes on afterwards.
Highly recommended.
