Post by Jane on Mar 14, 2007 18:26:28 GMT -5
Some lucky bugger saw a preview of order of the phoenix (not the full version however), and their review makes the film sound bloody brilliant. I'm soooo excitied, if youve got the time read their review...wooo hoooo
How cool is that, its sounds like its gonna be really "bam bam" a real "wow' movie ...wooo hooo....I sooo can't wait.
What do you reckon ?
Hey there. Saw a free screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was a while ago, but I've had crazy deadlines at work this week so this is a delayed review. Sorry. There's some spoilers. I have to say, this series keeps getting better and better with every installment! How many times do we see other big franchises (Stars Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.) start off with a bang and then blow out like a candle? It's nice to see the opposite happen with Potter: it started off slow and tiny with Chris Columbus's so-so kiddy friendly approach and has really exploded into a series that I think will end up being far more prolific than all of those combined. Yeah that's right, I went there. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this new one makes Lord of the Rings look like a **** cartoon. And it was only a rough cut!
So basically the story is this: Last year Voldemort came back and this year the Ministry of Magic is saying he didn't in order to maintain their political power. They place a Ministry official in the school--Umbridge, a psychotic stepford **swear*rule*broken** in pink--to enforce new regulations that will keep the students from learning how to defend themselves against dark arts and to prevent Harry from proving that Voldemort is in fact back in action. So Harry leads an underground group of students where they train to become badass fighters before facing off with Voldemort and his death eaters. Throughout the movie everyone keeps ignoring Harry for his own safety and the only one he can turn to is his uncle, Sirius Black, who is willing to fight by his side. For once the story is actually easy to follow. Usually I have to bug my friends with all kinds of stupid questions but this time I got it and somehow actually managed to remember most of the names.
The cinematography was PHENOMENAL. Very classy old school approach that really takes advantage of widescreen. Think Dr Zivango, Lawrence of Arabia, etc. Very epic feel. It starts off with Harry and his stupid fat ghetto-wannabe cousin getting chased by Dementors (creepier and more decaying than the ones in Prisoner of Askaban) who show up with a huge rainstorm out of nowhere. This was pretty cool and it was nice to finally see a Potter movie start off with an intense action sequence. Also veryy refreshing was seeing epic wide shots of the characters flying through London at night. I couldn't figure out why I found this so cool and exciting, but now that I think back on it, I guess it's actually somewhat of a cinematic first. In movies we usually only get wild helicopter night shots of places like New York when Spider-Man is slinging around.
The special effects with the creatures weren't done so they all had a cheap Nintendo 64-ish look to them. But a lot of the other stuff seemed complete. There were a lot of cool scenes in this one: Dumbledore escaping the Ministry in a burst of flames, Helena Bonhamcarter escaping Askaban prison, Harry doing detention by writing lines with his own blood, flying through London--TWICE, Snape breaking into Harry Potter's mind and vice versa, Umbridge getting chased by animal shaped fireworks, Redhead girl smashing a library full of crystal balls, Gary Oldman fighting with Helena BonhamCarter, and the best for last: Dumbledore fighting Voldemort one on one. That last scene wasn't finished but boy does it **swear*rule*broken** deliver! What's cool about it is that you're not just watching special effects but you're also getting kickass dramatic performances from Fiennes and the other guy. The boy does an amazing job too when acting like he's possessed by Voldemort.
This time all the actors are at the head of their game. Even the kids. Umbridge was a pretty interesting villain to watch. Very unlike what you'd expect. She's even scarier than Voldemort by the end of it. Although maybe that's a bad thing, because I actually didn't find Voldemort too threatening in comparison to her. There's this blond girl too, Luna, who's really funny and teaches Harry about getting over the loss of loved ones. Sadly we don't get to see too much of Alan Rickman. But for the little screen time he IS given, he's sucking brilliant. His scenes where he's entering Harry's mind are pretty cool too, the way they're edited in a real fast paced choppy kind of way. In fact I really liked a lot of the camera work and editing in this. The editing style is choppy in a really artistic sort of way which helps move the story along at a good pace. What's also nice is that there's a lot of, um dunno how to say this… chorepgraphy? Scenography? With the actors. The way they move around the locations helps dramatise the scenes even more. Emma Thompson is back from the Askaban movie too, and she gets fired by Umbridge for being a phony and that scene was done really well. Robbie Coltrane also isn't in this much, and his time there feels a little too much like a plot gimmick. His role is to just introduce his long lost brother, who's a giant, who then ends up doing something later. That part felt a little too detached, even though it has its purpose in the plot. The movie was kinda long. 2 and ½ hours, but it feels more like two hours. Still, there were some parts with Umbridge that maybe could have been cut down only because they felt redundant.
And at this point I think I'm spoiling it too much and I'm not good at writing reviews anyways. Point is, I think this movie will end up being a pleasant surprise to a lot of people and I'm definitely going to see it again once it's finished. This movie is insane. If you're looking for a big action film that actually has some emotional depth and epic performances for a change, then don't miss this.
from: www.aintitcool.com/node/31863
How cool is that, its sounds like its gonna be really "bam bam" a real "wow' movie ...wooo hooo....I sooo can't wait.
What do you reckon ?
GO TO HELL BELLA
I found it on some site, couldn't find the owner to put his/her name on it, I too was surprised to see it, that's why I decided to add it to my siggy, though it's not mine.
