Harry Potter

Before I knew whether or not I was a real nurse or a very embarassed want-to-be-nurse, we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Now it should be said that I am something of a fan. In the last week I read the first two books, watched all four movies, and had read 200 pages into book five to get ready for the movie. I'd have waited another day until I could finish book five, but David was having none of that, so we went today. Major spoilers ahead, so you might not want to read this if you haven't seen the movie yet.

Order of the Phoneix is my least favorite of the books (my faves so far are 1, 4 and 6). On an intellectual level I understand that Harry is growing up and teenage boys go through moody phases (except for me of course, as I was an Infallible Angel of Virtue don't forget.) But it isn't all that interesting to read about, my hero being all lamely emotional and fighting with all his friends. But the movie accomplishes some nifty magic of its own here - not only does it simply cut most of it out, but it explains the remaining bits away by tying it directly to Harry's mind connection with Lord Voldemort. Movie one, book zero.

Cut to the chase, while the book is my least favorite of the six, this movie is my favorite of the five. I had such a great time! After watching the other four movies, it is just so much fun watching these kids grow up. Obviously lots of great stuff was cut out, but that was expected. But what remains is the essence of the story, and results in some great filmmaking. From the beginning the series has been helped along by a very shrewd casting director. And when I heard Imelda Staunton was playing Umbridge I was excited. But give that woman an award now, she was so delicious I couldn't stop grinning every moment she was on-screen. She chewed it up with gusto, and left me hoping Umbridge has more to do in the last book. The scene where she tries to kick out Emma Thompson was a master class in good acting by three amazing women. Also crazy good was Luna. Where the heck did they find her? I fully expected her to be somewhat of a cartoon (sort of like Ron), but her honesty really blew me away, and so surprised me in a few places I almost wanted to cry. (Good art does that to me sometimes.) I wonder how old she is really, I just can't believe that a 15 year old would have that kind of depth and self-awareness to give a performance like that.

What else? Other than one little bit that sounded suspiciously remniscent of "Les Miserables", I thought the music was especially effective. All of the DA montages were spirited and had just the right sense of urgency. And this is the first movie where I was really excited when the final battle drew near, which I thought was excellently done. Yes, there were loads of cuts. But rather than just acting out the book, I was totally in the moment. I loved the smoky whizzing around in the air stuff, what a great visual. And how much do I love Dumbledore? I was so concerned when Richard Harris died and they had to replace him, but I love the energy and vigor Michael Gambon brings to the character. His and Voldemort's battle in the end was exciting. I am of course going to have to finish the book to remember just what was cut and changed, but I love it when Voldemort sends a volley of glass at them and Dumbledore puts up what looks like a shield and then the glass cuts through anyway but then you realize that he has changed the glass to sand - brilliant! Smarts over brutality.

A few nitpicks - I didn't like the shaky-camera crap, this isn't "Cops". And remember back in the 90s when Helena Bonham Carter was a good actress? What the heck happened to her? Not that she was terrible or anything, but compared to the rest of the near-perfect cast, she was a definite weak addition. Mercifully her scenes were few. Everyone else though - Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Jason Issacs, Julie Walters - was awesome. And after not seeing him for a few movies, how fun to see Dudley grown up too!

Oh, and how much did you love how Sirius' house was clearly designed to be a haunted house ride for the new Harry Potter Themepark? Yeah, haunted mansion rip-off to be sure, but still I loved it (and can't wait to go!)

A better writer than me could, I believe, make some very interesting commentary on how even politicians in the wizarding world will do whatever it takes to maintain power whether it is good for the people or not. But I'll leave it at that.

Ultimately, I though book five was a let-down from the brilliant excitement of the final few chapters of book four. The movie, on the other hand, captured that momentum and hurled it farther forward. Book six was excellent as well, and now I just have one short week to wait until the final book comes out.

A prediction: Snape is a good guy. He isn't nice, but I refuse to believe he is evil. I don't know exactly how it will work out, but I fully expect him to save Harry in some way in the final book.

I do wonder how they will market the last two movies? Right now everyone is all caught up in it because we still don't know how it is all going to end. Once we do, will the movies still be as exciting? I wonder.