Here
it is folks, the movie Ganesha has been waiting for aaalllllll yeaarrr…
As an uncloseted fan of all things Harry Potter, any year with a Harry
Potter film in release is like Christmas in July ( - or November, or
June…). Part of the anticipation of that great event is finding out
whether Santa has blessed Our stocking with a shiny red fire engine of a
lump of coal.
Order of the Phoenix is film number five in what
looks likely to be the seven-part series. Much has occurred in the life
of the Boy Who Lived since the day an amiable giant turned up one summer
to let Harry in on the secret that he was a wizard. Joined by his loyal
pals from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ron Weasley
and Hermione Granger, he has faced things with two heads, an ancient and
large-fanged Greek myth, soul-sucking grim reapers with an allergy to
happiness, and most recently, a duel to the death with his archenemy and
scourge of the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort. The last of these being
particularly traumatic as it resulted in the death of fellow Hogwarts
student, Cedric Diggory, right before Harry’s eyes. The film opens in
the weeks after that experience and Harry is going through serious
changes - because being a hormonal teenage boy wasn’t traumatic enough.
Harry is cut off from contact with his friends and protectors and kept
isolated in the house of his only relatives, the Harry-hating Dursleys,
where Voldemort and his forces seemed unable to accost him. This
presumption is blown to bits by the appearance of the afore-mentioned
soul-suckers, called Dementors, who attack Harry in broad daylight.
Though Harry barely escapes, it’s clear that the gloves are off and
someone will stop at nothing to get to him.
Harry’s protectors show up to spirit him away to
safety and here we meet the Order of the Phoenix; the resurrected
organisation of wizards put together by Professor Dumbledore, the
strongest wizard on the side of good. The Order fought valiantly against
Voldemort’s evil Death Eaters clan the first time around, and their new
headquarters is the home of Harry’s recently revealed godfather and
still wrongly-accused fugitive at large, Sirius Black, to whom Harry is
devoted. And because Harry hasn’t got enough agita on his plate, he’s
now being played for political purposes by the Ministry of Magic, for
whom denial is the order of the day in their adamant refusal to admit
that Voldemort has returned from what everyone hoped was the dead.
Harry is put through a Ministry-ordered Kangaroo
court defending his use of the magic that saved his life against the
Dementors, and later sees upon his arrival at Hogwarts that he’s now
looked upon as a complete nutter. What no one bothered to let Harry in
on during his suburban exile was the fact that the wizard press has
painted both himself and Dumbledore out to be liars, making up the story
of Cedric Diggory’s murder by Lord Voldemort for their own purposes.
Sweet. In fact, no one seems to tell Harry much of anything at all,
allegedly for his own protection, and this burns Harry’s butter no end.
And herein lies the big difference in this film, this is Harry as the
Angry Young Man. Harry’s had it up to here with all the whispers and
exclusion and he’s ready to blow. For all everyone’s best intentions,
they seem to ignore that Harry, in his short existence, has had to deal
with experiences that would obliterate the sanity of much older and
wiser men (- and wizards). What was clearly meant to protect the
boy has turned to be a terrible misjudgment of his character and the
reality of the situation. Harry’s going to need all the help and
information he can get in the near future; he’s got one of the most
powerful wizards and all his pals after him with phasers set to kill,
people, train him to defend himself.
Well, that’s not going to happen at Hogwarts. As is
ever the revolving door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching
position, we are introduced to this year’s model, Professor Delores
Umbridge, shill for the Ministry of Magic and proponent of all things
Pepto-Bismol pink. Umbridge introduces a new kind of teaching to the
fifth years, one that includes the use of no actual magic and a very
hardline view of discipline for any and every transgression, including
daring to contradict hers – and by virtue, the Ministry’s – assertion
that Harry is lying and there is no threat from Lord Voldemort. Piece of
work is Umbridge, she’s the Pink Meanie. Her idea of corporal punishment
includes illegal curses and gore. Seeing what they’re up against, Harry,
Ron and Hermione organize an Order of the Phoenix of their own and
recruit willing schoolmates into Dumbledore's Army. Harry’s got only two
joys this year and one is his surprisingly able teaching of these young
innocents. His other joy comes in the form of Miss Cho Chang, his fourth
year crush. Harry gets his moves on, folks, and it’s a joy to see this
precious bit of levity in his miserable life. Of course, even his first
romance has gotta have complications and his diversion with Cho is
fleeting. All this lurking about and defense stuff is all leading to a
big showdown at the Ministry of Magic between Harry and his Dumbledore’s
Army pals and Voldemort’s Death Eaters, who’ve come to claim an
important piece of business for their master. Will Harry’s scant
training be enough? Will Harry be able to get himself out of the
Department of Mysteries alive? Stay tuned, dear viewers…
If all that sounds pretty grim, well kids, that
ain’t the half. It’s a marked change in mood from previous outings and
seems to signify an almost anarchic disregard for the Harry Potter film
empire’s carefully protected demographic of small children. There’s
barely anything here for the kiddies, no Quidditch, no House Elves, no
dragons. During many stretches at my screening you could hear the little
ones chattering away with confusion during some of the darker and slower
scenes. Harry’s big first kiss scene drew many an “Ewww!” from the
plastic wand wavers. That leaving behind of the small fries is not what
I hold against the film, it’s the fact that HPatOotP is one joyless
affair. I understand perfectly that this is a dark and bleak time of
huge transition in Harry’s life, but the unrelenting misery thrumbed
over Harry’s head - and ours – in this film would send anyone to the bug
house, much less a confused, perpetually in the dark, 15-year old boy.
The pacing of the film is fairly breakneck;
director David Yates stops for nothing in his quest to get to what he
considers the important points of the story - not character development,
not a sense of humour, not innovation or art direction – none of these
piddling concerns are getting in the way of this train. If you
need to know more about the personalities of the main characters, you
better have seen the previous films, because you’re not going to learn
anything new. Various plot points and aspects of those involved are
touched on, almost as markers of things Yates had to include, but never
really fulfilled. In the words of my fabulous pal, BlueSimplicity, it’s
“too much and not enough”. Whether intentional or not, the entire look
of Order is dark and ramshackle: I wondered why the glorious red
Hogwarts Express was now deposited in the middle of a dusty, dirty inlet
of the forest instead of a proper station. Even Hogwarts itself seems to
suffer from Harry’s depression, looking dank, run-down and not at all
like the majestic castle that we’ve seen previously. For the first time
in the Harry Potter film, the set design looks like a low-budget
afterthought and takes its toll by further delving the film into murk.
To its credit, there are some great set pieces
here; the fight in the Department of Mysteries is one of the coolest
action sequences I’ve seen for ages. The introduction of the skeletal
horse-like wraiths, the Thestrals, is wonderful and shows genuine
originality. The appearance of the Black family’s House-Elf, Kreacher,
was nicely-realised and perfectly creepy. However, these are the only
inspired moments in the entire film. Directly after the Dept. of
Mysteries is another momentous battle and it just doesn’t capture the
spark of the previous scene. The scene of the Weasley twins’ revolution
should be a joyous celebration of teenage rebellion; instead it’s
curiously workmanlike and hollow – and those are the words I’d use for
the feel of the film overall. Here is a film about witches and wizards
that suffers from a remarkable lack of magic.
This is no fault of the actors, most of whom turn
in wonderful performances. Daniel Radcliffe has come a long way since
being put through rote paces with Chris Columbus. He makes Harry’s
teenage angst relatable, sympathetic and heartfelt. When he finally
blows up at his mentor and protector, Albus Dumbledore, you really feel
that this character has come to his wit’s end. Sadly, his cohorts Rupert
Grint and Emma Watson are given no stretches at all as Ron and Hermione,
though there’s a nice maturity edging in on both characters. The other
notable actors, Maggie Smith as outraged Professor McGonagall, Emma
Thompson as ousted Professor Trelawney, and Robbie Coltrane in one scene
as loyal giant Hagrid, have absolutely nothing to do. Alan Rickman as
emo king and Harry-hater first rank, Professor Severus Snape, does
wonders with his few moments teaching Harry to defend himself against
either his own or Voldemort’s attempts to “penetrate his mind”.
Quite honestly Warner’s could put together a full two hours of Snape
outtakes and I’d be there for the midnight previews. Nearly as fabulous
is Jason Isaacs (- who I may have mentioned somewhat favourably in
another review …
here!), as
out-of-the-closet bad guy, Lucius Malfoy, one of Lord Voldemort’s
original Death Eaters. Like Rickman, he has much more to do in Order
than in pervious films, and that’s just dandy. That man can work a long,
white anime wig like no one else. He eats up his role with a knife and
fork and a cherry on top. But the most notable mentions have to go to
Imelda Staunton as Professor Umbridge, her control over the character,
pulling off the pure malice in the woman’s soul covered in all that pink
and saccharine is a minor miracle. She conveys the fanaticism of a
zealot in her belief in the infallibility of the Ministry, as her eyes
go cold and blank like a shark when faced with a student who won’t toe
the line. Her compulsive giggles are poison and register like a
psychotic tick. Staunton’s Umbridge is the stuff of nightmares.
The other standout in the production is the
discovery of Evanna Lynch playing the wispy Luna Lovegood. Luna is, like
Harry, thought to be quite mad with radishes for earrings and a tendency
to read periodicals upside down. The populace at Hogwarts has branded
her “Looney” Lovegood for the odd things she says and does, and she’s
fine with that. In her isolation she relates extremely well to Harry,
and in my opinion, Harry and Luna had more chemistry here than did Harry
and his intended, Cho Chang. Luna is a very strong, loyal and wise
character who just sees things a bit differently, and Miss Lynch
captures her otherworldliness perfectly without playing it for camp.
It’s a terrific performance, and it’s hard to believe this is her screen
debut.
Rant time. There are two actors I wanted to point
out here: Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore, and Ralph Fiennes as
Voldemort. I have seen and enjoyed the accomplished Michael Gambon in
plenty of films. Unfortunately, I think that Dumbledore is his windmill.
I think that his moments in Order are his best yet (- outside of the
small “Did what?” scene in HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban). He puts in
a restrained performance this time around, which is great because I
passionately despised his yelling and roughing Harry up in the previous
film, HP & the Goblet of Fire. I know that every person wants to put
their unique stamp on a character, especially when one has to replace an
icon like Richard Harris (- who played Dumbledore until his death
before Prisoner of Azkaban) in the same role, but I feel that
somehow Dumbledore has eluded him. Gambon has not found a way to make
Dumbledore his own, and as a result the character we see is a shell, not
fully realised or fleshed out. Dumbledore is, along with Lord Voldemort,
the greatest wizard in the land, a wise leader and a strong warrior who
commands great loyalty and respect from all walks of magical life, yet
there is none of this command in Gambon’s performance, and many times it
feels like he’s treading water - filling the suit until the next scene,
and that’s a damned shame. On the other hand, we have Ralph Fiennes as
Lord Voldemort. Never has the world seen the likes of Voldemort, whose
evil and brilliance terrorised not just the world of wizards, but the
existence of Muggles (- non-magic folk), as well. Funny thing is,
on film, Voldemort’s just not scary. I will say that he comes closer in
Order than he did in Goblet, but still there’s such an edge of camp in
Ralph Fiennes’ exuberant performance that I keep expecting Voldy to bust
out some Isadora Duncan-style dance moves to watch him twirling about,
flailing his arms and making all sorts of funny faces. This is the
boogeyman whose very name is never mentioned in wizarding households for
fear of conjuring him or his followers. Nahhh… I ain’t feeling ya,
Ralphie … maybe by film seven? Neither actor bears any of the imposing
presence I would expect from such esteemed leaders, and without that
presence, both characters are lost.
Kids, if you have a choice of seeing Order of the
Phoenix in its regular 35 millimeter run or in the Imax 3D format, run -
RUN - I say, to the Imax version. The larger format print does a lot to
buoy up the film’s draggier bits, and the magic that is so desperately
needed to give the film a pick-me-up is realised during the final 20
minutes, which are in 3D. That great battle sequence I mentioned before
is made mind-boggling with flashes of spells and explosion blasts coming
right between your eyes. You’ll feel like you need to duck during the
escape on the Thestrals. It’s a great time and perfect use of the
technology. I only wish the previous hour and forty minutes of the film
was nearly as inspired … or as much fun.
Reports say David Yates is in preproduction to
direct the sixth film, HP & the Half-Blood Prince. Let’s hope he learns
to find a balance between gravitas, pacing, humour, and delight before
actual filming begins. That balance seems to have done all right by J.K.
Rowling, so far…
Here
it is folks, the movie Ganesha has been waiting for aaalllllll yeaarrr…
As an uncloseted fan of all things Harry Potter, any year with a Harry
Potter film in release is like Christmas in July ( - or November, or
June…). Part of the anticipation of that great event is finding out
whether Santa has blessed Our stocking with a shiny red fire engine of a
lump of coal. 
