Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
One of the best HP films, but also one of the most frustrating
 |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince poster |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with some mysterious forces of darkness destroying a bridge on the Thames for apparently no reason. Maybe it's explained in the books, but if so, the movie omits even a hint of an explanation.
The unexplained destruction of the bridge is just the first of many such plot points in the film. The title refers to the owner of Harry's potions textbook, which is filled with notes on advanced spells that allows him to excel in that class, but later Ginny and Harry decide the book is bad - and there's no explanation for that, nor why rather than destroy it they decide to hide it.
There are many more examples, but you get the idea. Anyway, the film concerns Harry's attempt to stop Draco Malfoy, who he believes is working for Voldemort, but under Snape's protection. When Snape is named the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, we know he's going to be the villain du jour.
And that's what makes this one of the best films. With Dumbledore directly involved we finally see some high-level magic employed. There's still a lot of teenage romance, and Quidditch matches, but we also get a lot more magic and destruction.
The Good:
- The stakes continue to rise. For the first time the series seems to flirt with real danger
- The look of the film is much darker thanks to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (making it the only HP film nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar)
- Harry seems a little tangentially involved in what is more about Dumbledore vs. Voldemort
- Rowling seems determined to pair Harry with Ginny and Hermione get with Ron
The Verdict:
**** out of *****
No comments:
Post a Comment