| Thursday, 12 July 2007 |
| because the dark lord has returned! |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (hereby abbreviated as 'OTP') - aka the one where Harry snogs the Asian flower-pot girl, Dumbledore and Voldemort collaborate to put on a pyrotechnic spectacle and a really pudgy, squeaky bitch in pink runs the school.
There are many different versions of the poster for OTP, but I just had to use this particular one. Isn't the Dark Lord so DAMN cool? Evil characters are so interesting, they bring so much life into the show, unlike the boring old righteous good guys who always saves the day and gets the girl and blah blah blah.
Just look at Voldie and Death Eater Inc. They are the height of cool - Voldemort, Snape (Severus oh Severus! I must learn to speak with his scowl.), Bellatrix, even Lucius; all so sinister and sadistic and slimy! They kick ass! And they usually are more complex than the good people... Oh the things I would do to be evil!
ANYWAY! If you haven't noticed, I caught OTP last night, at some Medicine charity premiere screening or something.
I think the movie was okay. It wasn't as bad as the first two movies, which was all kiddish and innocent and so boring. It continued the style that was brought out in movies 3 and 4 - darker, edgier, more intense, which definitely made it more interesting, and also more in line with the way I viewed the world of Harry Potter.
Except OTP lacked something than movies 3 and 4 had. I felt it lacked I dunno, something for people to hold on to, like it lacked a heart or some sort of focus. It felt very condensed and things just happened so quickly, so suddenly, that, most of the time, you sorta get thrown off center by the rapid flow of events.
So I came out of it feeling slightly disappointed. But I couldn't really point out what went wrong, because seriously, it was quite well made. It just lacked a certain element to it, of what, I don't really know.
Of course, with regards to staying completely truthful to the book, we all know that there is no way the movie makers are able to retain every little tidbit and scrap of information that we hard core fans relish in the books.
As a hard core fan, I still get peeved when certain facts and events deviate from those found in the novel, or when certain favourite lines get cut off or passed on to another character, because every little detail counts in Harry Potter. J.K Rowling loves her details, and even the slightest throw away line in the Novel can have a huge impact on the way the series progresses.
I guess I sorta got used to the way the movie makers butcher the original text, but it still pains me to see that movie viewers who have not read the books would not truly appreciate the intricacies of the world that Rowling had created; the way every single word, phrase or line connects all 7 books together into one massive tale; the way every single plot detail hints to something that has happened, or will happened in the series.
Still, one cannot wish for everything to turn out the way they desire it to be. I guess we have to be thankful that the movie makers did not deviate too much from the novels and commit heinous crimes like making Snape a blonde or Harry a gun wielding action hero.
One major thing to nitpick - I wish the Battle at the Ministry could be more epic. They over simplified it. Over over simplified it.
Sure the visual effects were cool, and I really like the way they depicted the fighting and dueling partners, but there just isn't the sense of mystery and utmost fear and excitement you get when you read about it in the Novel.
They left out like half the rooms in the Department of Mysteries, they over simplified the threat posed by the Death Eaters - I mean, the Death Eaters didn't even really put on a serious fight! They made it seem so easy honestly, which is stupid because this is simply not the case in the Novel.
For all the weaknesses they possess, the Death Eaters are still a powerful force to be reckoned with - they are Voldemort's personal strike force, his inner circle, his SS stormtroopers so to speak. They don't get so easily defeated by a half a dozen members of the Order (let alone half a dozen kids!) Only Dumbledore can own them.
And speaking of Dumbledore... why the heck is he so weak!
His duel with Voldemort, while certainly visually stunning, was just... anti-climatic, more like a pyrotechnic show than the epic clash of the titans that I envisioned it to be. Dumbledore was made to struggle through it. Which doesn't do justice to Dumbledore.
Yes I know, he is old and stuff, but still, this is the only man that Voldemort ever feared. This is the most powerful wizard of the age. The movie made him more fragile than the way he is depicted in the book, like he was genuinely scared and worried about how things were proceeding... which is SIMPLY NOT what Dumbledore does.
Dumbledore's cool and calm under pressure, and reacts to danger with wit, humour and a kind of whimsical air about him. He infuriates his enemies, while never becoming affected himself. That's why he is so cool. But movie Dumbledore is so so weak and reminds me of some bumbling fool.
And his duel with Voldemort... I think it would have been cooler if they just stuck to the way it was described in the novel, with Dumbledore bringing the statues of the fountain to life, and Fawkes the Phoenix joining in the Battle. And the two of them apparating here and there, shooting spells at each other. Some of the ideas they used in the novel, are just so cliche, they look as if they were incorporated into the movie just to have a chance to create some major CGI effect or something.
But oh well. I just being anal about this. Doesn't really matter to anyone else but me, because I'm in love with both Voldemort and Dumbledore and their duel in the Ministry, is to me, one of the highlights of the whole series, so I'm kinda miffed that it turned out to be so tame and over simplified; completely different from what I imagined it to be.
I mean, you have two titanic enemies meeting each other after so long - you'll think they'll want to have more fun and put in more creativity and effort in trying to fry each other's guts won't you? Rather than re-using some old ideas from the 'Manual of 100 Cliche Magical Attacks' or something.
Oh I must say, Luna Lovegood's hot! Bellatrix and Umbridge are both so well played out. Severus Snape is once again, so perfectly portrayed by Alan Rickman. Sirius was wiser than I expected him to be. And there's too little scenes of Voldemort! GIVE ME MORE VOLDEMORT! ROARRRRRR!!!
Oh and the movie has so many hints of Ron and Hermione wanting to get together. I tell you, there was this scene where they were like giving each other the eye, implying that they should leave Harry alone with Cho. I bet they were like thinking that they should take the opportunity to go make out themselves! Oh those naughty, frisky, kinky little kids!
Now that movie 5 is out, I seriously can't wait for Book 7. Just 10 more days folks!
Time to go all Potty over Potter.Labels: fanboy, harry potter, movie |
posted by voldemort33 @ 00:28  |
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