RECENT STORIES

Bringing the Spirit of Giving to Life ( Megan Anderson )
Colorado dads unite to end domestic violence ( Be There for Your Kids )
Domestic violence haunts victims year-round ( Nicole Alley )
Goals as I understand them: Yourhub.com ( DR. SEAN REIF D.C. )
What is research? ( DR. SEAN REIF D.C. )

share a story | more postings »

YourHub.com \\ Commerce City \\ Stories \\ Reviews \\ Movies

Order of the Phoenix rises from the darkness

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: John Eisel/YourHub.com on 7/11/2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Grade: B+

The most antagonizing villains are not the meanest, cruelest or destructive. No, the ones that really boil the blood are the villains who parade around as the heroes and deny the true hero of his or her proper standing.

From the moment Ministry of Magic lackey Dolores Umbridge, played impeccably by Imelda Staunton, is shown standing out from the rest of the judges of Ministry of Magic with an inappropriate broach, a level of intolerance for her character begins to rise. This drives the fifth edition of the Harry Potter series, The Order of the Phoenix.

First it starts with her inappropriate pink and Pepto Bismo-colored attire in the gloom and doom of Hogwarts. Then comes the undermining of education and freedom at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We see her gross cruelty through a pen that cuts into the skin and willingness to use the cruceatous curse, which causes incomparable suffering. Finally comes her intolerance for anything that doesn't conform to her picturesque and naive view of the world - including non-humans.

But that could describe many antagonists, who are seen more as worthy adversaries.

What really gets to the viewer is the Ministry of Magic, and thus her's, denial of the truth - that Lord Voldemort, the underlying villain of all the Harry Potter movies, has returned and is plotting a return to power, as seen in the previous movie, Goblet of Fire.

The Ministry of Magic doesn't want to alarm the public that Voldemort has returned, and Minister Fudge is afraid Hogwarts head Albus Dumbledore is trying to take his job.

Harry Potter and his mentor Dumbledore, are portrayed by the Ministry through the magical press as liars, ursurpers, senile and possibly insane.

Torture our heroes, beat them, kill them. But don't deny them. That's where we really get angry.

Our desire to see Umbridge, and the Ministry get theirs keeps the interest in the movie, which keeps the dark tone from the end of the last movie.

Hogwarts is no longer a place of wonder, but a haunted castle. The curious novelties of the world of magic - Quidditch, the talking hat and amusing pitfalls of spells are nowhere to be seen, replaced by winged horses of death, hidden tombs of prophecies and defense against the dark arts spells. Even Harry, played again by Daniel Radcliffe, looks a little too thin and pale.

But the tone is consistent with the books, which always had a darker underlying tone that undeniably increases through the series.

This movie did an excellent job of adapting from its literary counterpart, the longest of the series and arguably long-winded. Some important details are manipulated and other characters and underlying plots totally absent, but it's necessary to keep non-Harry Potter fanatics interested and the movie under four hours long.

The changes in the climax of the movie are actually more satisfying than the book, which is a rarity in movie adaptations.

Official site

What do you think? Post your reviews here.

Other reviews:
Not-So-Scary Harry Potter 5 by Mia McKenzie

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story

Current Rating

Based on 1 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

Showing 1 of 1 comments

Submitted By: John Brandstetter

posted on 7/20/2007 @ 7:34:30 PM

Rated Story

I didn't know you were such a Harry Potter fan, John. This completely changes my opinion of you.

[Report as objectionable]

Showing 1 of 1 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

John Eisel

Denver , COLORADO

John Eisel has posted 2865 stories and 12 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. John Eisel's average story rating is 4.39.

view profile » view other postings from John Eisel »

SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY

digg	Google
del.icio.us	Yahoo!
reddit	newsvine

What is this?

STORY RSS FEEDS

All stories

All stories in Commerce City

All stories by John Eisel

WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?

Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

Loading Ad