Ootp Review, Review of OotP, spoiler free

Note: I'm the fiancee of WiLLoWz, just wanted to say that before I started my review. So, there, I'm not crazy

Well, just got home from seeing the sneak preview of OotP this evening. Beyond meeting a lot of great Potter fans and having a jolly good time in general, the movie was good.

To begin, the start of the movie seemed a little slow and the acting was not up to standard. But, as things progressed the acting improved along with the general feel of the film. The cinematics were good, though in places it seemed excessively dark in its lighting. The special effects were definitely some of the best of the series, with a few exceptions.

From a story stand point the person I went with could fill in a few details and gaps that I'm not as quick to recall. I haven't read this particular book in a few months, so I keep getting it confused with book 6. Any who, it felt like a lot was glossed over or just dropped that would have improved the feel and story of the movie.

Overall I would give it 4.5 out 5 overall, with a near 5 for effects.

Oh wow. I mean just...WOW. I thought this was the best one yet. I mean, gosh.

Well, for starters, Luna was just PERFECT. Perfect. In every way. They really did a good job showcasing each member of Dumbledore's Army, 'cept for Ginny, she wasn't used enough. They also did Harry's struggle perfectly. And managed to keep in all the tidbits we loved about the books: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Grawp, Snape and James, Sirius's family tree, Grimmauld Place, Professor Trewlawney, Harry's dreams, SEAMUS (was surprised they kept that in), Neville's tragic past, Occlumency and they kept in one of my personal favorite scenes in the book and one I was sure would be scrapped: the conversation between the Trio after Cho kissed Harry.

They did start out pretty shaky, with the ultra compression of the Privet Drive scene taking away a lot of it's impact. Dudley's "gangsta" clothes were hilarious, though. But it really picked up pace once we got to the Ministry hearing and beyond. Sure, they switched a lot around and cut some stuff for time, but this is the best job of staying true to the book and still making the movie unique from it I've seen since the Chamber of Secrets. Harry's dreams were always very freaky, the realtionship with Sirius was played very well, as well as Luna and Ron and Hermione.

And Umbridge. Do not get me started. She captured everything we hate about Umbridge SO WELL. She was as perfect as Luna. The scene with Harry's hand..."Deep down, you know you deserve to be punished." COLD. Her taking over the school in that...um...dictatory way was done awesomely.

The DA scenes were great too. It was all great...so let me skip to the end before I get out of control. Hermione SUPAH plan ("Improvising") culminated in the coolest line of the movie (that wasn't taken form the book)

"POTTER! HELP ME! TELL ME I MEAN THEM NO HARM!"
"I must not tell lies, Professor."

And:

"Ron, that was brilliant!"
"It's been known to happen." (Yay Ron! I also liked it when he was all jealous of Grawp liking Hermione. JEALOUS OF GRAWP. Only Ron.)

The fight scene in the Ministry was great, though it was changed a lot from the book I understand why they did it, and they did very well under the time constraints. Dumbledore and Voldemort's fight was AWESOME. There are no words. It was a real professional magic fight. And Harry's possession was just plain well done and creepy.

Which brings me to the only two things I find wrong with the movie (besides how choppy it started out):

1. Sirius's death was seriously underplayed. For the huge giant death of the book that flips Harry out and everything it was leading up too, it was really really rushed and hardly had any impact at all. We didn't get to see Harry mourning enough...it really could have been more heart rending. Really. I did like how Sirius accidentally called Harry "James" when they were fighting. That showed how he got Harry and James mixed up so well.

2. Not enough Harry flip outs. I think this is because it was hard to play out and explain the constant anger on screen, time constraints, ect, but Sirius's death would have had more impact if we could have seen Harry smash stuff in Dumbledore's office. Felt his pain and all that.

But other than that, I loved this. OotP is my favorite HP book, and this movie really did it justice. I can't wait to see it again.

4.9 stars.

THIS REVIEW WILL HAVE SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

I basically second all of HR's comments- Luna was PERFECT. She's one of my favourite characters, and the actress was just perfect. I hope they keep her in HBP.

I agree, the beginning was a bit rough- the scene with the Dursleys was awkward, but once we got to London it was all good! I loved the flying to London, really well done.

I missed more of the Black household scenes BUT I understand because OotP really has two stories- the Order and School. I'm glad they went with the school storylines because they really worked well within this film. Which is why I think this one is one of the best adaptations, aside from CoS. It took the working parts and made them fit, even if everything wasn't included. It was a really 'whole' storyline on it's own. Sure it glossed over, and omitted (like no mention of Prefects) but they're forgiveable because my God Umbridge was so well done, and I loved the Weasley's departure, and etc, and whats more, is it didn't feel choppy. GoF was a bit choppy in that it was Okay here's this scene, and then this scene, and then wow it's the third task already, this movie really flowed well considering it's the largest book and the shortest film.

Some other points- (I'm just writing at random)

I loved how it was very '1984' with the huge picture of Fudge, the decree notices, the soundsystem throughout Hogwarts like "Umbridge is Watching" type, really captured how the Ministry really got its claws in at Hogwarts without eating away too much at the film.

I loved LUNA. Haha I can't say it enough!! She's hilarious! "I hope there's pudding". Love her!

I loved the newspaper montages, they were great! Again, the old 'tyme' feel to it, very Victorian and repressive, LOVED IT.

Helena B. Carter was a perfect Bellatrix, just the right amount of crazy.

I still love the Ron/Hermione hints. Ron getting jealous of Grawp, the scene with the DA "It's just manners, you know?". Haha I loved it.

I loved the DA scenes, especially Neville. Especially when they all stopped to cheer for him. God bless poor Neville!!!

THAT MINISTRY FIGHT WAS AMAZING. I have to go back and see it in Imax 3D. It was intense, sure it wasn't exactly as it was in the book, but it was just as good. When DD & LV faced off, just excellent editing/direction. No words, just pure duelling. So well done.

Kreacher was so creepy. I wished he was in it more, and that they'd have the scene where he lies to Harry, or his little den, but it's okay that it wasn't in there.

Stuff I'm a tad disappointed about-

Kreacher, Sirius' death not really being touched upon afterwards (but I did tear up when he did die, I did like that part- in the book it's very quick and touch and go, and then Harry's off, so I knew it would be a quick moment. But with the silence as we watch Harry, I thought it was all the emotion needed), no Quidditch but Quidditch is expensive, Percy & The Weasley's not being mentioned, no "SNEAK" on Cho's face (but I liked how they wrapped up that romance, it fit well within the movie, one less actor you have to pay, and gets rid of that storyline for the next film), hmm... really I can't complain about much because they did do it so well.

4 and a half stars!!!!!! I can't wait to see it again.

Welcome to ThinkPotter janders6
Saw the movie tonight - it was most excellent.
Spoiler Warning










All the performances were superb. The trio have improved greatly.

As usual, there wasn't enough Snape, perhaps there'll be more of him in the next one. The dreaded 'worst memory' scene was a bit blink-and-you-missed-it, and didn't have much of an impact on Harry.

Umbridge was absolutely brilliant. Her little laugh alone sent shivers down my spine. Luna was also perfect. Lucius was too lovely and deliciously evil for words

I would have liked to see a bit more of MacGonagall standing up to Umbridge, or maybe a bit more of the twins, and a bit more of Draco, but I understand they had to leave a lot of things out.

My only real problem was at the climax, when LV is possessing Harry, and in order to fight him off Harry has to resort to... some of the corniest lines ever spoken in an HP movie.

Well... We went and saw the film last night. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the film franchise and I found the preview for His Dark Materials to be the most exciting thing of the evening I quite enjoyed this one.
Harry was as always not quite how I imagined him. I feel that Radcliffe plays a more egotistical hero than I have Harry in my head (he's a very relucant hero in my mind.)
The compressed Little Whinging put me on edge from the very begining. I don't think there was really enough explanation of the Order's rescue. Just a "were here to rescue you", "keep formation" and all of a sudden we are at HQ.
Grimmauld Place was done beautifully though. I love the pop out house. But what was with Moody and his stick, and why were they so bloddy conspicuous all the time. Flying down the Thames and almost hitting a boat... bah!
After that the story improved greatly.
SFX were great; I loved the Thestrals and F&G's fireworks, though I missed the swamp.
The Cho, Marietta, Harry storyline was handled well. Did anyone else notices Ginny's greeness thoroughout the film. I'm glad they skipped Madame Pussyfoots as that was just painful in the book.
Luna was great and I also loved the newspaper montages. It appealed to my love of inter-textual reference and was a very effective way of explaining a lot of the changing mood of the public.
Ministry was great. The arrival hall was pretty much as I imagined it and the fountain was well executed. The DOM felt too easy for me. It was like you just walked through the door straight in to the Hall of Prophesies. But, whatever.
I loved the wooshy wooshy sand thing, and got very odd looks from the people lined up to go in as we came out and I enfused about it.
The big showdown between Dumbledore and Tom was great. And I loved Fudge's "He's back."

All in all 3 out of 5.

Athenamay, good connection to '1984'. As soon as I read that comment it dawned on me how right you are.

In terms of movie specifics, the Privet Drive compression was what irked me at the start. I understand the cutting for time issue, but it felt like it was setting a bad tone for the whole film.

I'm going back again Saturday to see it again. Sometimes seeing a movie a second time helps you appreciate the subtle aspects more. The Weasley escape was definitely entertaining.

Oh yeah, the boat was like "reaaalll subtle guys." And the Dursley scene was just...we KNOW Dudley's brain dead but he's way too freakin' scared of Harry to mock him in front of friends. How hard would it have been for it to be Harry seeing the boys, then going after Dudley? Not really a time issue, it would've taken like, an extra two seconds.

BUT LUNA. And NEVILLE. Were. So. Awesome. I just can't stop thinking about it. I know from now on whenever I read Luna I'll hear that voice. That's how good she was.

And who loved the fact that Umbridge's kitten plates snitched on Harry? I DID.

Saw it yesterday afternoon.........EXCELLENT!!!

Given that this was the largest book, I thought they did a good job in condensing it down to the basic story. Omissions and changes were made, an unfortunate reality when adapting a book to film, but they made them work well and still held true to the story.

I won't repeat what has already been said because I agree with everyone's assessment.

I'm going to see it again on Sunday and bringing someone who has never read the books, only seen the films. I will be curious to see if he can follow it. It's too hard for me to judge because my mind fills in all the gaps and missing pieces of information. But if he can follow it, then I'd say they've done an excellent job!

I am going to reserve judgement about the movie until I have seen it a second time. I cannot say that it was my favorite at this moment, but it did have its moments where I was really getting into it. Janders summed up my basic feeling about the movie initially really well, and I think it might have made him think twice about spending the rest of his life with me, as I was spouting off problems and changes from the book to the movie right and left. LOL anyway, look for my full summation this weekend!

Yeah, as soon as that cat's ass disappeared through that cat-door you knew Harry was a goner. Maybe it's related to Mrs. Norris?

I also loved Umbridge's pink tape measure, measuring up Professor Flitwick. Then Flit's little fist-pump "yes" when Umbridge gets chased by the fireworks dragon.