I didn’t really like Harry Potter 4 (the movie). It was too dark, and I thought Harry was a crybaby teenager with an immature angst that was downright annoying. Plus, I disliked several of the other characters as well, so it was just a cruddy movie for me. I was expecting much the same or worse with this one.
I was quite happily wrong.
The Order of the Phoenix, which I just saw with my wife and brother in law, was in my opinion better than the last. Here’s a short list of the whys:
- Harry, while still mad all the time, finally realizes he’s mad all the time. In the words of G.I. Joe, knowing is half the battle.
- Hermione (yeah, had to look that spelling up) is no longer portrayed as the cleavage induced eye candy that she was in movie 4. She’s back to the cute, down to earth kid that everyone likes as an actual person.
- The kids actually do some, you know, MAGIC. This has been a frustration with the books as well as the movies. If Harry is this all incredible bad guy slayer — why is he always such a weenie when it comes to the wand? At least there was some sign that he might be an advanced wizard. I was really frustrated when Hermione always showed him up in the last movies.
- The older Weasley boys are always great — but they shined in this movie.
It was really a good flick. I’m looking forward to the last book, which comes out in a week or so. The timing is really nice. And no, I’m not camping outside my bookstore, and I didn’t wear a cape to the movie tonight. I don’t want to be that guy.
UPDATE: Since I confessed to not reading the Harry Potter books on another blog, I guess I should clarify that I’m looking forward to the 7th book so I can read the spoilers online. 🙂
I agree and I am really having a hard time seeing how some people think that Harry Potter is evil. I don’t see much of a difference between Harry Potter and LOR or Star Wars. It’s basically the same concept only with a different plot. I did think that it was somewhat cheesy when they were “shooting” at each other with their wands, a little too Star Wars for me 🙂
I like your blog!!! What gets me is at the end of ever movie you see in the movie theature, people clap their hands like someone was actually there performing that show! IDK, its just a little weird to me. This Harry Potter was by far my favorite one though!!
GOOD BLOG!!