Shorter Potter & The Order of the PHX

Happy Friday the 13th! Time to spout my review of the latest of Dan Fletcher - I mean Dan Radcliffe flick. Although I didn't make the 11:59 PM Tuesday night show like a die-hard, I saw this last night at a comfy 7:20 PM showing in Red Rock Staduim. I called the theater before going and grilled some poor teenager about which screen is the largest and whether or not I should see the film digitally. Suprisingly, the kid knew the answers. The digital version was on a much smaller screen, so I opted for the grand scale of the 480+- seat theater. With Cafe Rio in my gut and Hot Tamales in Julie's hands, I was ready.

Just one problem. During the eternity of previews and commercials, Jules mentioned to me that Dan Radcliffe (the actor who plays Harry) is a short guy. I'd never really noticed before. OH HOW IGNORANCE IS BLISS!!! First it was Rocky's painted eyebrows, now this. The first scene with him and Hermione, she makes him look like a WUSS. Then I kept thinking about him wearing platform shoes, standing on boxes in every scene, etc. Kinda ruined things a bit for me.

But, after a while the film took over. The main impression left on me after reading the book was an overwhelming feeling of Harry's anger and frustration. I would say it was the most angry of the six books I've read thus far. And this film lived up to it. For kids, this was probably not such a good thing. But to a jaded 30 year-old, it was great. The happy go lucky days of the first two movies are long-gone. The story really has morphed from ooh, cool magic stuff into a grim look at how people would deal with the rise of Hitler and Bin-Laden rolled into one man in black robes. What really frustrated me about the first four films is that you never really got the feel of how much Harry suffered in the books. It all seemed too happy. I think anyone who has not read the books can get a good feel for Harry's emotional struggles (in all books) by watching this one.

A theme that I found in the film was the idea of how to deal with anger and fears. Do you isolate yourself or share your burdens with others? I think I'm more of an isolation person so I could identify with this. Cutting ourselves off from people who love us because we want to spare them pain dosen't work. It was a good theme that can be applied to everyday life. Toward the middle of the film Harry wonders if he is becoming evil because of the anger he feels all the time. Sirius teaches him that we all have light an dark within us, but its which we choose to follow that defines who we are. Some days we loose, but most we win if our hearts are in the right place and we keep the people we love close.

A word about adaptaion. This was the longest book and the shortest film. Hence, it came off much more like an actual movie than a re-hashed book in pictures. Yes, TONS of things were left out, but the critical items remained and that is enough for me.

The action in the Department of Mysteries was great, and the battle between D and V was highly entertaining. I did wish that D got a little more angry (I just couldent' get enough anger!) but he gave the "You shouldn't have come here Tom" speech well. The best stuff in the movie? Voldermort. Black suite at the train station, the battle with D and inhabiting Harry - FANTASTIC. Ralph Finnes does a great job and while its not Oscar material, he makes the character very believable and sinister. But, I actually found myselft hating that Umbridge lady more than anyone by the end of the movie. And let's not forget the Weasly twins and their exit from Hogwarts. As characters in the book would say, "Brilliant." Overall, great movie. Not sure I like it better than POA, but I'd hold it equal with GOF. The PG-13 is well deserved and my kids will not be seeing this one for a long time.