gwendolyngrace | obligatory OoP film review (Reply)

etakyma and I went to see Order of the Phoenix last night, in IMAX 3-D.

And let me say, the 3-D was SO FUCKING COOL. OMG, best 3-D I've ever seen. Greg Foster was not lying.

Did not completely suck, and in many ways is the best of the movies to date. Mostly because we finally have a screen writer OTHER THAN STEVE KLOVES. Seriously. Amy and I watched "Goblet of Fire" earlier in the evening (because neither of us had seen it again since going to the IMAX sneak-preview the week before its premiere), and the difference in the writing is just MILES.

Remus wasn't there to pick up Harry? I was like, "Dude, they cut one of my scenes!" I thought it was a little too speedy, mainly because Moody never knew Harry and they never addressed that. Also, what's up with no Dumbledore as Secret-Keeper for the Order HQ? Methinks the Fidelius is just not going to figure much in Book 7....

Also, on the subject of Grimmauld Place and the Black family, I notice no Mundungus Fletcher at all, no cleaning the house and finding the locket, and no glimpse or discussion of RAB. SO...I'm going to say that the locket is in Kreacher's possession in Book 7, not Dung's, because otherwise we would have seen him.

I really missed Christmas on the Closed Ward, meeting Frank and Alice and seeing Neville with his parents. Also, no joint Christmas present. Wah!

But

heidi8 Sirius's arm is clearly around Remus's chair in the first Order meeting scene, but I couldn't tell whether Remus and he were standing together when Harry comes in. Partly I think because the IMAX was actually *too big* - I have that problem sometimes, where I can't take in the details because the image is too large to take in all at once. I'll have to watch again for a more definitive answer. I'm going with theirloveissomoviecanon for the moment.

The screenplay FIXED one of my major problems with the book. Snape gave Harry more information about occlumency/legilimency and Voldemort's mind-trippy strategy in that first Occlumency lesson scene than in THE ENTIRE FIFTH BOOK. And Harry still didn't figure it out, but in many ways, I prefer him angsting over becoming more like Riddle, and thinking that's why he's connected at the brain, than the crap in the book about wanting to see into Voldemort's thoughts to help the order. I did miss Snape seeing the corridor and asking about it, though.

Snape's Worst Memory...really not that bad. Embarrassing, yes, but not *painful* in the way it's written in the book. Also, dude, blink and you miss it. All that fan wangst about what wound up being such a little scene. Li'lSnape doesn't even ever get a word in.

Unfortunately, there's also no *consequence* - to Harry or Snape - for Snape telling him that they are done with Occlumency.

A word about Delores. ZOMG. BEST VILLAIN SO FAR. Lucius was also the best he's been yet, and *Thank You, Jason Isaacs* for toning it back just a notch, much less camp and way more chilling, because you see in this movie a glimpse of a *parent* talking to Harry, not just a cardboard Snidely Whiplash.

But Dolores. Imogen Staunton ROCKD HARD. She was so amazingly vile. That whole "I'm sure you didn't mean to say" way of hers, from the get-go. And the office? The WALLS were pink! AHAHAHAHAHAH. Awesome. Creepiest bitch ever. Way more fun to hate than Bellatrix (though I did like that HBC was bat-shit insane, 'cause, well, DUH.)

Neville. How much do we love Neville? I have loved this w00by since Book One, really, and Matthew Lewis is living up to everything I knew Neville would be. He's going to be a frickin' ladykiller, I swear. Neville is love.

LUNA - Luna is simply MADE OF WIN. She wins at life, and I don't mean that hyperbolically. One of the things I loved about Luna when she was introduced was that she is so philosophical about things. She is cracked, but she has an amazingly positive attitude that is joyous and has a great sense of wonder. I still really want to see Luna in Snape's potions class, though. ;^D

And the Twins. Fred and George's exit was PERFECTION.

I wish we had seen more teacher solidarity against Umbridge, though, apart from Flitwick's little gearshift motion. I really missed the whole, "Well, I wasn't sure I had the authority" and Snape and McGonagall's reactions to her once she's Headmistress, though we got more of that in the earlier sections. And of course in Snape's bit at the end, about the Veritaserum. "No idea." Alan Rickman, you have always been 99% perfect for Snape (aside from a slight physical difference and being too old), and This. Scene. Nailed. It. Best. Snape. Moment. Ever. I can't wait to see "DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" based on this.

Still, I missed Career Advice, "Have a biscuit" and "It unscrews the other way." While I didn't miss the lack of Quidditch (I think we're done with Quidditch for movie 6, too), I did miss Minerva and Umbridge tussling over banning the boys from the sport.

I also missed using Rita and Luna to get Harry's story out through the Quibbler, but it's okay.

The visuals....Grawp wasn't nearly as annoying on screen as on the page. Hermione = Fay Wray, but y'know, apart from that homage to King Kong, he worked much better here than in the book. The Ministry was awesome, and of course the whole Dept. of Mysteries was beyond incredible. The huge portrait of Fudge totally made me think of Communist countries, like Castro's Cuba, Chairman Mao, Lenin, etc.

Note that there's absolutely no setup for Tonks and Remus. Thank you. Check, please.

Okay...the death. I find it really interesting that where the exact curse is vague in the book, it's clearly the AK in the movie. I've seen posts where people think she grazed him, but I don't think so. I think she hit him full-on and he went through the veil because it happened to be right there. Loved Thewlis holding Dan back and I thought it was effective, actually I felt the prick of tears but didn't really cry like I feared I would. Personally, I would have loved a close-up of Remus just before Sirius fell through, but that's just my version, alas.

I think that's also because where the emotional impact of his death really hits (in the book) is when Harry trashes Dumbledore's office later. And that didn't happen. Actually, I missed CapsLock!Harry in general. I hated his capslockiness in PoA, but it would have been appropriate here and the film didn't let it happen. We also didn't get any of Ginny telling him off about being possessed, and I missed that.

So surprisingly a worthy cliffs-notes version, and one that I definitely want to see again. I guess I'm going to the Prophecy showing....