We were excited. My wife and 3 children and I pulled up to the Omni Theater at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History Tuesday night July 10th about 10:15pm. A line had already formed outside the theater. Probably about 50-75 people were already in line. A few Hermiones were there, many males wore their dress robes and there were a smattering of other costumes from the series. when the museum opened the doors at 11:00, the line was out towards the parking lot and down the sidewalk. We made our way in and planted ourselves in the center of the theater. For those that do not know about the Omni Theater, it is an iMAX dome. I had never seen a feature film on the dome. All I had seen here were films created directly for the dome. I was scared that the dome might distort the movie. But we settled down and after a small science/magic exhibit by a museum staff member, the lights went down. A cheer rang out from the crowd. Everyone there was obviously as excited as we were.
No previews. No build up. All Harry Potter and nothing else. No distraction. Greatness.
The opening scene got everyone's blood pumping. I was hooked. Starting from the Dursley's as usual, Harry fends of 2 deatheaters, sees Dudley nearly killed and gets kicked out of Hogwarts. 5 minutes in and 2 hours to go. The next suprise was Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks. Nice addition to the cast! The rest of the movie flowed nicely. I found the Order to be one of the harder books to like, just because Harry has such a tough year. The movie did touch on that, but did not harp on it as much as the book. The final cresendo of the movie was spectacular. The build up to the meeting at the Ministry was great. Once inside the Ministry, the action never let up. The ending was a little sudden, but it was much like the books. You know the ending is coming, but you're always disappointed when it finally comes. As usual, we all want more. I really have to wait another year + for Half-Blood Prince?!?
The Omni experince turned out to be perfect. The film was not distorted to a distracting degree. The clarity was great. The sheer size of the experience was stunning. Seeing the movie stretched from the left horizon of the theater to the right horizon is a better experience than I would have imagined. Watching the movie was a joy. The environment for the movie was great. The audience was fantastic, obvious ardent fans of the series. Many rounds of applause during the movie.
The movie was exceptional. The story line was followed as I have come to expect. Yes, there were MANY departures from the book. And YES, there were MANY stories from the book at were not depicted at all in the movie. I have felt since the Prisoner of Azkaban that the movies just CAN'T do the book justice. There is simply no way to make a movie that covers every storyline from a book that takes 25+ hours to narrate. The movie is over 2 hours and would have to be 3 times that long at least to satisfy those that want the book treated as a screenplay. I do not fault the movies for leaving out many side stories and the often departures from the book's depiction of details. I understand that something has to change to make the 138 minute movie actually work within itself.
The acting was impeccable as usual. My props to the casting department for keeping the cast together over 5 movies and 6 years. This really helps the viewer visualize the flow of the movies as a complete story. I'm excited to hear that Emma Watson has finally signed on to complete the series. Seeing the same actors in the various major roles helps my enjoyment of the movies. I can't imagine a different Snape, or McGonagall, or Hagrid, or even Filch, let alone Harry, Hermione or Ron. I have gotten past a different Dumbldore, but all in all, I think seeing mostly the same cast over 5 movies has helped my enjoyment of the series.
The effects in the movie were first-rate as usual. This is where I miss some of the items that are left out from the book. I catch myself while reading the books (actually listening to them) trying to picture in my mind what that effect is going to look like in the movie. One of these items from the Order of the Phoenix was the coin that was given to the members of the DA to allow them to know when the next meeting was to be held. I thought that was going to be a fun effect, but was disappointed to see that it didn't make the movie at all. I thought Grawp was done pretty well. The effects in the Ministry of Magic hall where they received the prophecy looked great as the shelves came down. The one effect that did catch my eye was Sirius in the fire. The effect changed from the Goblet of Fire where Sirius is seen in the embers to Sirius being seen in the flames now. Other than that, I thought the sets and the effects were done well. Again, my only disappointment here is not seeing some of the effects that I was looking forward to from the book.
I thought this was one of the better movies of the series. It would be hard for me to rank them in an order of preference. All of them have impressed me. I can say that Goblet of Fire was my least favorite, because I thought it jumped around too much. But the others, I'm not sure if I could rank them in the order that I enjoyed them. Again, some will be disappointed and even give bad reviews because the movies don't follow the book. They are being unrealistic. You can't have a 6+ hour movie. And there is no time to make 3 feature films for each of the last 3 books, which is what I think it would take to cover any of the last three books, just because of the book's sheer size.
I often wonder how the movies stand up for someone who has not read the book. I'm afraid that the viewer who hasn't read the book would be completely lost and have a hard time figuring out any of the story. Maybe not and there's no way for me to tell. I think the movie makers have done a great job in understanding that the movies are for the readers. I don't think it is a stretch for them to assume their audience has read the book, just look at the book sales. So, I'm not going to mark them down for what isn't in the movies. It leaves some of the movie to our imagination, which let's face it, is what the series is all about, right?
I loved the Order of the Phoenix, as did the rest of my family. I recommend it to anyone that is a fan of the series. I would love to hear from someone who has seen the movie, but has not read the book. I want to know how the story depicted in the movie holds up without all the holes filled by having read the book. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it. In my opinion, you will like it if you are a fan of the books. And if or when you do it, let me know what you think!
Trent