Party on my Firebolt and everyone’s invited.

The wife and I went to see the midnight screening of Order of the Phoenix last night. Besides being stuffed into a room with hundreds of 16-year-olds and having experienced the guy behind us narrating the entire movie to his friend, it pretty much ruled. The first two acts were stunning—easily the best HP adaptation to date, with David Yates brilliantly synthesizing Harry’s adolescent pangs with the events of the book. (Plus, Dudley is a chav!) The third act is a little crappier, and things sort of fall apart. But the Voldy/Dumbledore fight is pretty magic-tastic, and during the scene in the Hog’s Head, pay close attention to who plays the barkeep. I really enjoyed how much foreknowledge the movie required; many characters are incorporated into the action without any introduction and you’re simply supposed to know who they are. It’s a geekapalooza that way, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

The acting is also head and shoulders above any previous movies—the girl who plays Luna Lovegood is brilliant, and Imelda Staunton as Umbridge is note-perfect. Plus, them kids got hot, boy! Emma Watson totally cast Petrificus totalus in my pants, and I’d love to Levi Ginny Weasley’s corpus, if you know what I mean. (And I think you do, wink wink!) And let’s just say my sex dreams about Bellatrix Lestrange were pretty accurate except for the dirty teeth. Mrow!

Posted by: Aaron Retka in Sleeve of Wizard | Permalink