Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

First of all, a background. I have tried reading Harry Potter books before, and the furthest I went was two chapters. I cannot relate to JK's style of writing and therefore have opted to just watch the show though it may not totally capture the exact story in the book. This is expected coz' Lord Of The Rings really did not follow the book much and added a lot of flair.

Secondly, I'll do a quick review on GSC Cinemas. The reason I managed to catch the show at 11:45pm, on Friday the 13th July 2007 is coz' GSC's website allows me to choose the showtime, where to sit and then pay for my ticket upfront. I reached the cinema at 11:50pm, gave the number to the ticket guy, grabbed the ticket (already paid for) and head to the cinema. No queues, no hassle.

Now for a non-spoiler review with one photo (which would not really spoil it anyway).

The show is darker than previous movies, which I like. Special effects are a lot more smooth this time, very smooth in fact, really very smooth. One very good example is that teleportation through a fireplace thingy which will come up quite a few times in the movie.

Videography is much improved, with cameras capturing panoramic view of earth and sky in one scene, another scene of a neighbourhood (being able to see the road and houses aligned at both sides of the road) and very good camera movement ala similar to running down Saruman's tower in LOTR from the rooftop to the ground as well as cameras reversing from outdoor to indoor through window panes like Panic Room.

As mentioned in interviews, no Quiddich (I don't care how it's spelled) this time around. Less character developments on the 'naughty' boys, but other characters' development went very well such as that of Neville.

I have to complain that two areas of the movies are left hanging, which you will notice by the end of the movie. They involve 'wrong judgment of person' and 'arrow in the arm'.

Superb acting by Alan Rickman (as Snape) as always in all four previous movies as well. His comments are to die for "Getting sentimental, are we?" and "I could vomit." Another superb acting by newcomer Evanna Lynch (as Luna Lovegood). Others actings are just as expected such as Helena Bonham Carter is as good as is expected of her. :D

Lastly, the best scene in the movie, if I could freeze frame, is when they're in the place as in the photo below. However, in this specific freeze frame (that I find really nice), is when the camera gets a shot of all of them with Luna near left-centre looking over her shoulder while others are looking at what's behind her. Nice lighting, nice camera movement and timing in capturing that 3 seconds shot.

That's all. In summary, not a disappointment at all for a grown-up to catch this movie. The duration I suspect is about 2 hours, because while the movie started a little late, I got into my car at 2:15am. Do watch.