HP5 thoughts

I've got quite a bit to write about the concept of adaptations in general. That's coming in a later post (hopefully this week, as I've been thinking about it a lot). This being the case, instead of filling your heads with all kinds of talk unrelated to the film itself, I'm just going to say a few quick things about this movie that any of you who care about have already seen and any of you who don't probably won't no matter what I say. Alright?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a very competent film. The acting is probably as good as the series has been thus far, and the visual direction is very well done. It has been about the poorest rated of the HP films thus far critically, but I believe that has more to do with the source material than anything. Not having read any of the Potter books beyond the first one (which I read at the height of my Tolkien fanaticism in late '99 and thus didn't much care for), I can't say for sure, but trying to take a 1000+ page novel filled with important characterization and condensing it into a 2.3 hour film just, generally speaking, doesn't always flow terribly well. Certain, seemingly important characters (Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, and a few others) just don't get the time to be properly fleshed out, and seem somewhat forced in with an otherwise outstanding primary cast when their relevancy to the plot deems their presence necessary.

That said, the primary triumvirate of Harry, Ron, and Hermione have grown to be quite excellent young actors under the impressive tutelage they've received on the set. Gary Oldman is one of the best actors around (and seems to be part of the reason that our heroes have grown so much) and Imelda Staunton's performance as Dolores Umbridge was absolutely incredible. The story flows well enough despite the slight character foibles mentioned earlier, and it sets up nicely for what I imagine is to follow (hopefully within the next two to three months, I'll actually know what, exactly, that is). I'd also like to say that Yates and Radcliffe did a wonderful Harry seem suitably ornery and mildly angsty without going completely overboard and turning Harry into the screaming emo child that some people seem to have interpreted him as in the book proper. I never once felt that Harry was out of line in his reactions, and, indeed, a couple of times was wondering why people were so shocked by him instead.

8/10
Notwithstanding the fact that I feel like the absolute creepiest person alive every time I'm made to realize that both Emma Watson (Hermione) and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) are growing into attractive young women in their own rights.