Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
July 18th, 2007 
Release Date: July 11, 2007
Staring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Rating: 
Being a Harry Potter fan who was previously displeased with the last four movies, I approached this one with trepidation. Could it get worse? Did I want to spend $10.50 CAD to find out just how much worse it could get?
Admittedly, I was secretly hoping this movie would be as awful as Pirates 3 so I could later write a scathing review on it. (Bitching is in!) However, what I saw in the movie somewhat pleasantly surprised me.
Let it be known before I begin that I do not remember a terrible lot about the fifth book. I hated that she (”she” being J.K. Rowling) killed off my favorite character in the series, something which automatically labeled the fifth book my least favorite. After finishing it I left it alone and never really picked it up again… This was a first for the Harry Potter series—up until then I’d read and re-read every book at least three to ten times in anticipation for the next.
The movie, surprisingly, didn’t spark too much righteous indignation on my part. It bothered me that they’d left out important parts of the book. I am a fan of the little detaills—like the DA coins, or “the sneak” part—and personally I feel those details add a small yet important dimension to the movie. Where was the visit to see Neville’s parents? Aurthur Weasley? And Lockhart.. Oh, I would have loved to have seen Lockhart again. He was such an interesting character.
The special effects, like most people have mentioned, were superb. Oddly enough, I found all the visuals for the department of mysteries and the ministry of magic in general to be surprisingly accurate to the visuals I had in mind.
I must say though… What stood out the most in this movie, oddly enough, was Luna Lovegood.
I love the girl they picked for her part. She is either very talented at playing Luna’s part or very much similar to Luna in real life because I thought she did an excellent job in portraying the character. Everything from her long blonde hair and big eyes to her mystifying, almost spooky presence was just perfect.
Overall, I did enjoy it. They could have made the movie a tad longer—some parts did feel rushed—but in the end the length was really quite suitable for a varied audience. Like I said in the beginning—I was pleasantly surprised. The visuals were excellent, the music fit well, the actors fit (for the most part) well with their roles and it made for a pretty nice movie-going experience… But as a word of advice: Don’t go on an opening weekend, because you will find that tickets are sold out hours in advanced and you can barely move in the crowds.
As a parting comment, Is it just my 20/20 vision playing tricks on me, or is Potter’s eyes always BLUE in the movies? Have they forgotten that his eye color is almost always mentioned along with his appearance? (“He had jet black hair, vivid green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead…” or “You look just like your father Harry, but you’ve got your mother’s eyes!”) … How bloody hard would it be to wear contacts? This has always irked me. It’s in the little details where the Harry Potter movies seem to fall short.
I’m so hesitant to see the movie. I always hate how they omit the little details. They made the book awesome, and it bugs me when I don’t see them in the movie.
Reply: I know what you mean… I’m the same way. You should still see the movie anyway though, if only for the scene in the department of mysteries!
July 18th, 2007 at 9:56 pmApparently Daniel Radcliffe’s eyes are irritated by coloured contacts; which is why he doesn’t wear them. I reckon it will lead to a whole realm of complications though once they reach the seventh movie.
Reply: Somehow I had a feeling there was a rather obvious reason why he didn’t wear colored contacts! I know there were one or two scenes in either the first or second movie where they must have either doctored the flim or Radcliffe wore contacts because his eyes were a very unnatural green - maybe that’s what they’ll do for the crucial parts of the 7th movie?
July 18th, 2007 at 10:36 pmAgreed on the casting of Evanna Lynch. She’s perfect — exactly like I pictured Luna. I’m seeing OOTP tonight, with a bit of luck. Leaving large parts of the story out seems par for the course at this point, so I’ll forgive them for that.
July 20th, 2007 at 1:50 amI agree completely with your review - right down to Luna Lovegood being the highlight of the movie, and Harry’s eyes (I HATE the way they go from blue to green depending on the scene, ugh).
I really loved the fight scene at the end. Usually I find the HP movies so horribly cheesey with the endings, but this one was excellent.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:19 pmIt’s great that you enjoyed the movie. I’m not much of a Potter fan, but I still watch it due to insistent demand raised by my little cousins. For me, this is the worth HP movie ever. All of us were sorely disappointed. There’s nothing new, fresh and interesting to discover about the witch world.
July 21st, 2007 at 11:03 amActually, about the eyes thing, I was quite upset about that when I saw the first movie, but then I read an interview with Daniel and they had planned on giving him green eyes by using contacts, but he was unable to wear them, they hurt his eyes. So that’s why they used his own stunning blue eyes.
But I agree this would have to be my fav movie so far, but feel there are so many little things that are important that they missed out. You really have to have read the books to really understand. Otherwise you’d just be lost.
I’m having the last book sent to me… and then I’ll watch the rest of the movies, but then that’s it. I’m done… like dinner…
July 21st, 2007 at 9:34 pmI haven’t had a chance to see this yet, although I plan to once I have time off work.
I’m really sad though that they left out the visit to Nevilles parents in the hospital, it would have made sense to show that after in the fourth movie showing how he reacted to the cruciatus curse.
I don’t think it helps they’ve had different directors too.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm