The Order of the Phoenix

First of all, if you don't necessarily like Harry Potter all that much but you're going to see the latest film, make sure you go with someone who adores the Potter Universe. Honestly, in a theater full of fans, it made the film more interesting.

The movie itself was full of very interesting special effects. I especially enjoyed seeing the smoke-like trails of some of the spells that Harry practices. Many fans of the books, in their own reviews, say that the representation on screen was exactly how they imagined it to be like when they read it. As usual, all of the computer generated things in the film was at or above standard (one thing about HP movies is that they're mostly always pretty to watch).

The film moved a little quick in parts, but it's definitely hard to condense a book, which can be likened to more of an experience, into roughly 2 hours. I found it especially interesting to see how diverse the crowd was, though. Anyone from the Hollister-clad teens behind me to the pair of forty-year-old guys that sat a row over from me seemed to be pretty enthralled with the film. I've mentioned it before, but the ability of this film, after 6 books and 5 movies, to generate such a loyal following amazes me.

I'm not all up to speed on the characters, but from what the reactions in the crowd were sounding like, they were all satisfactory. Daniel Radcliffe reprises his role with skill. I could tell why people were infatuated with Mr. Potter, his character is admirable in standards and such and Radcliffe portrays it well. The rest of the crew did a good job, too. I guess it just takes all of the younger actors some time to get really comfortable in front of the camera. Although I have seen mixed reviews about how the character Luna was acted, most of them were generally in agreement that it was done well. It was--well--interesting. Seeing Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint all grow up as Harry, Hermione, and Ron was a pretty sobering experience. It made me feel like I was getting old...

By no means am I advocating the full pursuit of all of the Harry Potter merchandise and seeing this movie hundreds of times, it was just one of the better ones. It was a little more dark. Its PG-13 rating allowed for some leeway, I guess. I don't necessarily regret seeing this movie, but I think I would have rather seen Live Free or Die Hard Again. (Am I being serious? Oh man...even I don't know)

The only real problem I had with it was that I was sitting in the second row...most of the screen was out of focus when I saw it so it was kind of hard to take in all of the graphic glory, hence the chiropractor subtitle.

As a final note, emo Snape rules.