Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Boy Who Lived


Well, being on vacation in Idaho can't cure some addictions. Last night Jen and I went to the midnight premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". Tuesday was a long day and I hoped to catch a nap with Peanut in the afternoon, but that didn't work out. I got involved with a book, and read her nap away. By eleven, I was ready to pass out, but I stuck it out until midnight. The theatre was packed, so I grabbed seats while Jen got snacks.

Following ten minutes of previews, the Warner Brothers logo appeared on the screen and the main theme started. While I would have prefered, as always, that nothing be left out or changed from the book, I feel that the finished product was fantastic. Most of the crucial elements from the plot were there, from Harry's confrontation with Dudley in the beginning, to Grawp, Hagrid's Giant half-brother. There are several times where flashbacks to previous movies are shown, and it's amazing how young the actors looked back then, and how mature they look now.

I've long said (concerning the Potter movies) that as an avid reader of the books, the movies do an okay job of covering things in the books. However, if you haven't read the books, I think that the movies do a great job of presenting the stories and standing on their own. It's the inconsistancies between books and movies that Potter "purists" have a problem with. Of course, if they included everything from every book, this movie (based on the longest of the "Potter" books) would've been about five hours long.

With ticket prices being what they are, though, you'd certainly get your money's worth.

If you've seen the other movies, what are you waiting for? Go see this movie. (play trivia first, though, will ya?) If you haven't seen the first four, go rent or buy them, and then go see this film. To me, it's the best of the series. At least until next November when "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" comes out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

They do a good job of keeping the movie direct and focused, although having gone through the books so often I can't help but pick out what they've left out. The movie did a great job illustrating the dark turn that this book (and therefore movie) had to take. As one of my less favorite books, I think the movie certainly did it justice! I could always do with a little more of the wisdom Dumbledore imparts to Harry in their one-on-one chats at the end, however, I'll go see this one again in a heartbeat. Preferrably at a more decent hour.