Not true to the book, but a VERY GOOD adaptation!

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2007)

First of all, let me make something clear. My opinion of this movie is not that it was perfect, nor is it that it was absolutely dreadful. I should add that anyone with one of those opinions should really think the movie through, because I find it hard to believe it could be so extreme.
My personal opinion: not true to the book, but a very good adaptation. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense to many people. How can a film be far from the book but still be a nice adaptation of it? I'll attempt to explain.
First- not true to the book. This one is quite obvious. There were many things cut, chopped down, and changed from the book. Whole characters were missing, never to be mentioned. There were characters we know of that appeared but said nothing. Events were in a different order than in the book to suit the pace of the movie. Overall, this movie was probably the least true (yes, I think less than GoF). It's quite understandable, considering they had to cram an 870-page book, full of detail and events, into a movie that would be a suitable length for children (I do believe that's why the WB won't make these movies at 3 hours). But still, I do believe they could have kept some more things without adding too much length to the story. Overall the movie wasn't really anything like the book. It had many of the same events, but they were all in different order, and many things were changed completely without reason (Ron, Hermione, etc., using Skiving Snackboxes to fight off the Inquisitorial Squad? What?). This movie was far from the book. Quite far indeed.
But when you really think about it OotP wasn't about Voldemort. It wasn't about the giant battle in the ministry. It wasn't even really about the Order.
It was all about the characters.
And this is where the movie goes from being untrue to being a great adaptation. The movie kept the same feel of character development, growth, and relationships that the book had. We got to see Harry struggle with himself, with the anger he was feeling and the idea of taking charge of his own like, the same way we did in the book. We got to see Ron and Hermione once again prove their undying loyalty to their best friend. We got to see Neville grow from a clumsy boy with no magical talent to a boy with a strong determination to learn. We finally got to see Ginny as a very powerful young girl, and it was made obvious to the audience that she felt something for Harry. Seamus shuts Harry down in front of everyone but gives a sincere apology later, just as he did in the book. Snape's worst memory may have been cut, but nothing was missing- we saw him an upset boy, saw him teased, and most of all saw James picking on him without provocation. We grew to love Sirius in the short time we saw him and really understood how much he cared for Harry. In a few lines, Helena Bonham Carter captured Bellatrix's evil and insanity perfectly. Umbridge and Luna were the highlights of the film in terms of characters- both were beautifully acted. Who didn't want to strangle Umbridge as she sipped tea while the DA carved into their hands? Who didn't burst into laughter when Luna gazed into space and mentioned her love of pudding?
In the sense of characters, which after all was what the story was about, this movie was quite perfect. And while it sucked to see the DoM cut down so much or Dumbledore's escape half as intense as in the book, the idea of the book still came across easily. I repeat- the real story in OotP is the characters and how the grow and interact. This was captured perfectly in the movie.
Here are a few random things that really made this movie for me.
1. Even though many characters were cut, they found a way to work through it without damaging any other character. 2. Many of the changes were able to add to character development (Neville finding the RoR, Luna explaining the Thestrals, etc.) 3. There were MANY lines STRAIGHT FROM THE BOOK, which was fantastic for huge fans! Even without Phineas Nigellus we got the, "Dumbledore has style," line, and they kept Hermione telling Ron, "Just because YOU have the emotional range of a teaspoon" 4. The acting was terrific. Everyone was able to portray their character correctly, no matter how small a role. 5. The use of footage from previous films was very interesting and well-done. I also liked the effects of the Order/Death Eaters and Voldemort/Dumbledore duels.
All in all, this movie is my favorite, very close to PoA. No, it isn't exactly the same as the book, but when you think about itwhy would you want that? Jo puts in enough detail for you to visualize as you read, for you to make your own little movie. It would be rather boring to have a cookie-cutter film. These differences from the books keep the films interesting. You can take something apart and rebuild it in a different way, but in the end it will still be the same thing. That was the case with this movie. It may have been far from the book, but it gave the same results- we saw character development, love, loss, and a determination to fight.