Potter Wednesdays: Order of the Phoenix

Ahhh, the final Potter movie on dvd! This must mean I'm about to see the new one on the big screen! And my sources tell me it will be in a spiffy London cinema on Friday night, YAY!!!

But for right now, back to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... i.e. Dumbledore's Army vs. an excess of pink! :p


New characters!

• Loony Luna :o) great casting choice there, that girl really pulls it off!

• Dolores Umbridge... scary! That voice, that character... and all that pink! *shudder* I think she may be the scariest of the villains we've faced so far in part because her evilness is hidden under layers of "what's proper" and doing things for "the greater good"... in other words a fanatic! Very dangerous...

• Bellatrix Lestrange - Sirius' absolutely insane and evil cousin, marvellous Helena Bonham Carter!

Fun moments:

• Oh look, the Dursleys are back! I missed them in the last movie! Did they change actors for Dudley? But wait a minute! Isn't Petunia supposed to receive a letter from Dumbledore right about now? Weren't we supposed to finally understand why Harry's been staying with them instead of a friendlier wizard family (like the Weasleys)?

• I love flying! And that ride up the Thames although short was excellent! (almost makes up for the lack of quidditch)

• Sirius' house.... spooky! And Kreacher is the worst! Pity we didn't get to spend much time there... but at least the reunion with Sirius was heartwarming (and heartbreaking when you think about the outcome).

• Welcome to the ministry of magic! Nice to see it after all this time!

• Ahhh... the famous "first kiss"! but even more than that I loved Hermione's translation of the female point of view for the guys (and Cho's "feelings") and their incredulous reaction! :p

• Anything and everything to do with the DA! (Dumbledore's Army) particularly Neville's progress and being able to see how powerful Ginny is! About time that girl got something to do! :o)

• We finally get more Snape thx to the Occlumency lessons!

• I loved Fred and George's farewell to Hogwarts (but I still don't think they got enough screen time and wish I could have seen the swamp), take that Umbridge!

Scenes I didn't like so much (or missing from the book that I wished were there):

• Harry's outrage (when he walks in on Ron and Hermione in Sirius' house) at having no news all summer long doesn't come across that well. In fact I found the acting by the main trio to be little bit less convincing this time, a bit forced, particularly those first reunion scenes (it got better later). And wasn't this the episode were Ron and Hermione got made prefects and Harry didn't (adding to the rage)?

• I wanted to visit the magical hospital (whose name I can't remember now, St Mungo's?) to see Mr Weasley after the snake attack, visit Neville's parents (and finally meet his scary grandma) and catch a glimpse of poor Gilderoy Lockhart who still can't remember anything (from movie 2!) sigh!

• Also seriously missing was Angelina's turn as Quidditch captain and the funny Keeper tryouts! grrrr....

• I don't like the way Umbridge found out about the DA (loved the classes), and Cho wasn't supposed to be the traitor!!! Changing the story there people! tsk! tsk!

Great lines:

• Umbridge in DADA class:

"Theory is enough to get you through your examinations, which after all is what school is all about"

HA! It's sad that some educational systems are actually about that! Passing tests doesn't mean being educated! Just 'cause you can memorize a bunch of factoids doesn't mean you know how to use them properly when the time comes!

• Ron when Hermione talks about forming the DA and breaking the rules:

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?!"

• And Hermione in the Forest:

"Grawp! PUT ME DOWN! NOW!"

Anyhow, as much fun as freaky Umbridge is, I think the end of the movie is the best part An excellent final half hour with all the Ministry of Magic battle... and that death is just as sudden and shocking as when I read it the first time! Tears and shock. It takes a while to sink in what with everything else that's still happening. And we finally get to see the (one and only) confrontation between Dumbledore and Voldemort! :o)

(hmmm... they don't seem so confrontational in this shot do they?)

I checked out the extra scenes on the dvd hoping for some juicy stuff, but there's nothing big, they just add a few tidbits to Neville and add some creepiness to Umbridge (extra scene in the forest, talking about "the ends justify the means"), and a definitely better scene between Umbridge and Trelawney. But no swamp from the twins, no quidditch tryouts with Ron flailing try to stop the quaffle from entering the goals...

And now I'm looking forward to the Half-Blood Prince where we get more Snape! Farewell to Hogwarts! (but didn't book 7 end there, onsight at Hogwarts? must re-read to double-check)


Check back in next week for the final chapter of Potter Wednesdays!