July 11 was the most awaited day of the month for me… I was so freakin’ excited to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I’ve reserved good seats. Paid 190 pesos for it at Glorietta 4. I texted my friends about it, and finally, this day came. I was in definite chaotic mess when Anne jokingly told me our tickets were already forfeited. My stomach was churning with acid and whatever crap as I saw the Warner Bros logo coming up the screen. OMG, here it comes. Then the scene. Daniel came up. I felt… …seriously mortified. WTF?! Ok. I am guilty of imagining a different opening scene. I read the book. So maybe that will explain it. But, there’s a sinking feeling that I will not like this movie. First off, Dudley looked stupid. Well, he should be, but this was different. Acting was bad. Really bad actors at this movie. With one exception, that of Bellatrix Lestrange. Brilliant performance and depiction. Exactly what I imagined she would be.
Mrs. Figg wasn’t at all how I saw her as I read the book. Luna was ok, and she was quite good at being.. weird. The sing-song voice helped. The noble house of Black lacked a lot… it wasn’t at all noble. It was terribly small. I pictured a grand petrified black house full of splendid artifacts of dark magic. They didn’t even show Sirius’ mother’s portrait. They didn’t show the Weasley’s take on Percy’s indifference to them, which I think was a little essential. Also, if a lot of the Weasley twin’s antics to annoy Umbridge was shown, it might have added humor to it.
Though they did show how Ginny looked at Harry and Cho which was not in the book. They were clearly getting ready for movie 6. If it weren’t for the fight scene in the end, the story I think was a total waste. The depiction of the Ministry of Magic was splendid, though I think they could still have done better. Bellatrix killing Sirius… hm… i think it could’ve been done more beautifully. Like a little more fight scene going on before the exact killing. Though Harry’s grief and anger was superbly conveyed (taking off the sounds at first was a good strategy), a little more fighting with Bellatrix and Harry could have done a lot of good. Remember, Bellatrix was the most loyal and probably the most deranged servant of Voldemort. More showing of just how much deranged she was would’ve been great. Bellatrix should have had more exposure, like in the end where she should’ve known that the prophecy was destroyed and such, failure to give her master the prophecy, her anguish and all that. The movie lacked a lot of emotion that was clear with the previous movies. This one was too gloomy and too serious, there’s no balance whatsoever. Even if the movie had magic scenes, it wasn’t at all that magical to me. All-in-all, since I have read the book, I would rate it a 5 out of 10. If I haven’t read the book, I’d say a 6. Before I watched it, I have promised my kids we will go see it. But now, I don’t think it’s worth the 680 pesos I will shell out for the 4 of us. I’ll probably just wait for the DVD copy to come out. Let’s see what they can come up with movie 6 next. Probably a lot more gloomy since Dumbledore dies in it. In any case, even if the movie is a little disappointing, I still love Harry Potter. JK Rowling is an awesome author. I liked how she could foresee things in the first book and have it’s uses still in the next book. Brilliant! This is one of the instances why I sometimes choose books over movies. =)
