Order of the Phoenix

Saw the movie last night!

If you haven't read the book there may be spoilers below. I don't normally review movies and am by no means a movie critic. There are probably good reviews out there...below are just my thoughts on the movie.

First of all let me just say that if you have not read the books but have watched the movies I think you will enjoy it. For the movie fans it is probably a good movie to go see. It's fast moving with good action and even more visually appealing than the previous movies in my opinion.

For the Harry Potter nerd or obsessive fan. This movie does one thing, it gives us our HP fix. I've heard a lot of people say the 5th book was their least favorite. I am probably in that category. It was dark and seemed to just beat a dead horse so to speak. So I was both anxious to see the movie and not so anxious to see it.

The minute the movie started and the theme started though I was so glad I was there. I can't say it was bad because...its HP and it is based on the book. Just like there isn't a bad chocolate :)

Like you may have read on other blogs...it moves incredibly fast. That, I think is my biggest problem with it. It seems as if they tried to keep the movie short and they tried to touch on almost everything...and as a result they touch on everything so briefly you don't get a good feel for the emotions and don't get the dark feel that the book had. Yes they changed some stuff. To me it seemed they changed more things in this one than the previous movies. However, to be honest I haven't seen the other movies in a while. They left out quite a bit too. There was no mention of quiditch at all or Ron making the team. No mention of Ron and Hermione being prefects. Dobby wasn't in it and wasn't the one that showed them the Room of Requirement. Some things left out were pretty plot important. For example Snapes memory of being teased at school when he was young. The prophecy is revealed to Harry and in front of others and not by Dumbledore as in the book. Dumbledore didn't explain things to Harry as he did in the book.

Despite all of that I did enjoy the movie and would even go see it again. The lady that played Umbridge was excellent. You really just want to punch her face in lol. Her office just cracked me up though, it was crazy and awesome. Actually all of the performances were wonderful. The fight scene in the end was spectacular! They did an amazing job of capturing Hogwarts and the grounds and the costumes. Visually the movie was just spectacular.

I realize the book is huge and is packed with important things. I know it can't all be included in the movie and everyone has their ideas of what should be in it or not. The best part of the night was at the end of the movie when Fudge sees Voldemort and says "He's Back". Half of the audience said "DUH!" out loud and that cracked me up.

All in all there is no way I can recommend anyone NOT see the movie.

Oh and for you knitters...they have some pretty cool knit wear! I've read a couple of blogs already buzzing about them, particularly Hermione's hoodie.