Order of the Phoenix

First, let me say publicly and for the record that movies and books are two DIFFERENT things. What works well in a book may not work in a movie. The film audience can't read a character's thoughts; we can't be "told" backstory (something that, in my opinion, books shouldn't do either even though lots of authors do it all the time.)

I remember seeing a quote by Stephen King when someone asked if it makes him mad when Hollywood ruins one of his books to which Mr. King responded, "what do you mean?" (pointing at books on shelf) "My books are right there."

So that's what I think about books-to-film in general. It doesn't bother me if they don't go page-by-page. They can't. I get it.

Now, the point at hand.

When I first read Order of the Phoenix it was my least-favorite HP book. I was frustrated with Harry--I wanted him to get over the brooding. I was annoyed with the Ministry of Magic--how could they deny that Voldemort was back? I was mad at Dumbledore--one sentence from him could have eliminated almost the entire book.

But then I re-read the book. And I heard a quote from JKR about how it had to be so long because it set up a lot of what was to come in books 6 and 7. And I read it again.

And now, when I take it piece-by-piece, scene-by-scene, Order of the Phoenix has some of my favorite moments/lines/images from the entire series to date. For example:

--I LOVE how JKR is able to start every book with an immediate conflict, and for my money the Dementors showing up in Harry's neighborhood is amazing.

--Mrs. Figg as a squib is just one more example of how, in this world, anyone can be important. I first fell for the series when I figured out that the main character of the third book was mentioned in a throw-away line of the first book. To learn Mrs. Figg was another example of this just left me in awe.

--Few images in the entire series captivated me as much as Harry's visit to the Ministry of Magic. It's vivid and exciting and shows the full magnitude of the world. I was (am) fascinated and amazed.

--One of the most brilliant things about the series is, in my opinion, the introduction of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ever year. I love how that's always a new character, new conflict, new people who are qualified to teach Harry distinctly different things. It stands to reason therefore that we'd have teachers who were good (Lupin), teachers who appear good but are really bad (Moody, Quirrell), teachers who are hapless (Lockhart), and teachers who are bad.

But how can there be a BAD teacher? How would Dumbledore allow it? Well...enter Professor Umbridge. I hated her. And I was supposed to.

Voldemort is the bad guy--no doubt about it. But he's miles away. What risk does Harry face in that situation? Where is the day-to-day conflict? Well, in the form of Umbridge, of course. Brilliant, if you ask me.

--Perhaps my favorite line in the series is when all the members of the Order are fighting, and someone says that Harry isn't Mrs. Weasley's son, and she says, "He's as good as!". That made me cry.

--The scene with Neville's parents at St. Mungos had me bawling.

--Fred and George summoning their brooms and going out in a blaze of glory had me cheering.

--All the teachers silently rebelling against Umbridge had me giddy with joy.

--Death Eaters breaking out of Azkaban: scary.

--Hermione blackmailing Rita Skeeter: hilarious.

--The room of Requirement (also, realizing that Dumbledore had introduced the Come-And-Go room in Goblet of Fire): Delightful.


So all-in-all I found A LOT that I liked about Order of the Phoenix. In fact, I enjoyed the pieces more than the book as a whole. A sort of reverse synergy if you will.

When I heard reviews call the movie dark I was prepared. No, more than that--I was expecting it. I was not, however, expecting gloomy.

I wish I could sum up exactly how I feel, but I'm having a hard time. Despite the fact that there were things from the books I missed (SNEAK, Dobby, Lockhart, Harry's career-planning session, Percy, Mrs. Weasley's boggart), my hesitations weren't content-related and thus aren't that easy to explain.

No, my problem was with tone. And pacing. And just a general something that nagged at my gut.

Remember the scene with the Dursleys right after the Dementor attack? Where was the screaming? Harry's pleas to defend himself? The energy?

There was so much brooding and worrying and turmoil that the characters seemed to forget to get excited about anything.

There were good things, don't get me wrong.

I really loved the montage of Umbridge inspecting the teachers. I enjoyed the DA lessons. Umbridge was really well done.

The special effects in the Dept. of Mysteries were great. Great wizards battling in their prime was exciting. The look on Fudge's face when he saw Voldemort standing in the middle of the Ministry was worth the price of admission.

And words cannot explain how much I loved Harry's response to Umbridge yelling at him to tell the Centaurs that she wasn't bad: "Sorry, Professor, I must not tell lies." (SOOOOO good!)

But overall I thought, not that the film was too long or that there were too many scenes, but that not enough happened within those scenes.

Again, think back to what happened after the Dementor attack. Mrs. Figg appears and reveals that she's a part of Harry's world--the world he hates being separated from--but he doesn't beg for answers. Harry finally reaches the Dursley's kitchen, but he barely defends himself against their accusations. The scene seemed to take forever. There was no energy, and tension, and fight, which was sorely needed in a movie about a coming war.

A time or two it felt like I could almost hear a director telling the actors: "think, brood, be miserable, slow down." I could have used a little "speed up, get angry, fight!"

So that's what I think about the book. And the movie.

Things have to change sometimes. I get that. And this is a darker book and I have no problem with a darker movie. But there's a vast difference between dark and passive. And I think too much sitting and thinking and saying things reallllly slowly left this one slightly off the mark.

--Ally


ps...if you loved it, I'm really really glad. And I fully intend to see this movie again. Heck, I'll no doubt buy the DVD, and hopefully (like the other Potter films and this book) I'll enjoy it more next time.