Another magical outing

I'm writing this kinda late, so it may be short, but I hate doing my movie reviews too long after I see the movie. I feel my best analysis comes when the film is still fresh in my head. And in case you couldn't tell by the title, tonight I got to finally see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In summation, I thought it was fantastic. Given that this was my least favorite book in the series, I had some trepidation, but I really enjoyed it. I think it's too early for me to compare it with the other films. Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favorite movie, but this was one was highly enjoyable. I think part of my enjoyment was just seeing all of the characters once again. Seeing each of these films almost feels like a family reunion now in an odd way. The casting for these films has just been fantastic. There has never been an actor who I felt was miscast for a role. Credit goes both to the casting director and to J.K. herself for creating such well-defined characters.

And as great as it was to see such favorites again, I really loved the new additions in this film. The young woman who played Luna Lovegood nailed the flighty, free-spirited nature of the character that makes her so odd to the other students and so likeable to the audience. Then, you have Imelda Staunton who was picture perfect as that bitch Delores Umbridge. She got all of her mannerisms perfectly and did a wonderful job of really making the audience despise her, despite the fact that we only see an abridged version of her heinous actions in comparison to what she does in the book. Finally, while in small roles, I enjoyed the performances of the actresses who played Tonks and Bellatrix Lestrange.

As for complaints of the film, they are minor. The only noticeable thing was that I was not keen at times at the visual liberties the director took with the film. His decision to expidite certain plot points through montage was a bit irritating. He also visually changed things from the previous films. For instance, the depiction of Sirius in the fireplace is different than the way it was done in Goblet of Fire. I know consistency is difficult when each film has a different director, but those small things shouldn't have required alteration.

I could complain about the fact that the film leaves out a lot of stuff from the book, but there are two reasons why I won't: 1) I've come to expect that from the Potter films and 2)Most of the stuff gutted from this book was rather inconsequential to begin with. However, like I said, I would have liked for the director to give more time to the plot points he did include. For instance, I thought Sirius' death in the film lacked the gravity that the scene had not only in the book but on the series as a whole. He does make up for that by doing a nice job on the following scene involving Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel.

At the end of the day, this winds up being another fine addition to the series. This review will probably be pretty useless though as non-Potter fans aren't likely to see it and Potter fans have already checked it out (some more than once). I will definitely be seeing this again when it comes to the budget theater and then of course, buying the DVD. Hopefully by then, I'll be able to better assess where this one fits amongst the films of this fantastic series. Grade: A-