worth the midnight showing

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2007)

Weird Warning: if you get motion sickness easily, take some Dramamine before the movie. I was nauseous halfway in and actually covering my eyes for part of the ministry battle. I thought I would miss the ending while cleaning vomit off the theater floor. I am Very Sensitive to this sort of thing so don't worry about it if you could take more than ten minutes of Blair Witch Project.
I've always seen the HP movies as a sort of supplement to the books. So for me, Order of the Phoenix was really exciting. It was the closest any of the movies has come to capturing exactly what I imagined since seeing Sorcerer's Stone messed up all the faces and places I had been well acquainted with in my head; it's visually true to description. We all have one scene we wish could have made the cut, and for me it's Harry going bonkers on Dumbledore's office after the final battle. Without this the movie ends just as abruptly and oddly happy as the shorter, younger, books. The pages and pages of caps lock we suffered through are much more exciting in movie form. Movie Dumbledore is still a bust. Nobody would put their faith in that scared old man. Order of the Phoenix was perhaps my least favorite book, yet it might become my favorite of the movies (beating out Prisoner of Azkaban). It brings back some of the magic we've been missing since the first book/movie. I had a great time watching it as a book fan and my friend next to me who hadn't read any of the series enjoyed it although he said it was hard to follow without the whole story. But what's better than actually being asked to fill in plot details from the book? Bring a non-reading friend!