Visually this movie is too gritty, it detracts from the feel of the Harry Potter universe. Too much ‘realism’ makes the movie feel like a horror flick in some ways: dirt, grit and grime everywhere. It’s as though the...
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Visually this movie is too gritty, it detracts from the feel of the Harry Potter universe. Too much ‘realism’ makes the movie feel like a horror flick in some ways: dirt, grit and grime everywhere. It’s as though the director wants to remind the viewer they are in the real world to sell the drama, an unnecessary and forced suggestion which I found distracting. Take almost any character from the movie, put them on any city bus, and no one would look twice at them. The unique, chaotic and just plain different feel of the wizard world which fans of the books so treasure seems gone here. The visual highlight in this film is the creatures. The threstrals are beautifully done. Like the dragon in the Goblet of Fire, they look, sound, and move perfectly. Kreacher is perhaps the creepiest thing I have ever laid eyes upon. Gwamp is the one character who in my opinion was well developed. The interaction between him and Hermione made me feel as if I knew Gwamp a little better. As a fan of the books, that’s a real credit. I wish only that they had taken as much thought with other characters. Bellatrix, Tonks, Lupin, Moody and Hagrid are almost non-existent in this installment. This is the saddest part for me, that character development was sacrificed. My nemesis, Bellatrix, a new character who is played by a great actress, has more time in the trailers than the movie. Tonks, who is also well cast, has two or three lines. The biggest surprise for me was Ron, who is almost absent. Also, though I knew they would not, I was still surprised a certain fugitive’s brother got no mention. The rush through the story left little time for characters to develop. Rush hour, my nickname for this movie. The story moved along at a blazing pace. Although I thought the places they melded, cut and shortened the story were smart, they never used the time they had especially well. One fairly obvious example would have been to give Shacklebolt’s time to Tonks to flesh out the character. The final fight and Sirius’s demise happened far too quickly. The action in Order of the Phoenix is worthy of mention, however. The duels are faster and more destructive than ever. You really get a sense that Harry is in way over his head. As a fan of the books, I expected to have issues with the Order of the Phoenix just as I have with the last four films, and I do. A new perspective brought a real sense of doom to the movie, which is good. It has a severely rushed feel that it never recovers from, which is bad. In the end, though, my tiny complaints matter very little. This is Harry Potter, people.