Do You Believe In Magic?

Last Friday, carmeL and I had a chance to go see the new Harry Potter movie - Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix - which hit US theaters on July 11th. Since I hadn't read the book and carmeL had, we decided to do a joint review of our IMAX 3D movie experience.

Dumbledore's Army

We arrived about an hour early (carmeL insisted so we could get decent seats.) Being in San Francisco, it was with [good] fortune that we end up in line in front of a homeless(?) guy. I can't say for sure if he was homeless, but he certainly smelled like one... or ten. Maybe even twenty. To make matters worse, the previous showing experienced some technical difficulties so we nearly lost our lunch waiting in line for over an hour in front of this guy. He eventually got kicked out of the theater and our IMAX 3D experience ended up being 3D for only the last 20 minutes of the movie. Guess they weren't able to work out all the kinks from the previous showing, but at least it was still in IMAX.

Fighting off the baddies

Anyway, I thought the movie was great! It was neat to see the actors grow so much since the previous four films, not just physically but in their acting prowess as well. I enjoyed the dark overtones of the story; plots are so much more enjoyable when you see characters overcome a struggle. The action sequences were great too, especially when the 3D was working. I don't want to give away too much because you guys should see it for yourself. It'll be a good $10 well spent, $15 if you see it in IMAX.

The Ministry of Magic

Now for carmeL's review...

I have to agree with rye-uhn-air-ick for the most part. I know that turning a 870pg novel into a 2h18m movie was no easy task for the screenwriters and director, David Yates. However, I feel that they kept the gist of the story to keep the movies in sync with the novels' storyline. I'm in the process of re-reading all six books in anticipation of the 7th's release, so it's been awhile since I've read Order of the Phoenix. The only complaint I have of the movie is that some parts felt choppy, like something was missing, but I think that's because I knew what had been left out. At least, rye-uhn-air-ick didn't seem to think so as much as me.

Giving lessons in self-defense [against the Dark Arts]

As a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter series, I am very excited with how the film turned out and it's made me even more excited about the coming release of the 7th, and final, book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I encourage fans of the book and/or movies to go out and watch it. The extra money for the IMAX 3D experience is well worth it, even if the 3D effects aren't working. And if our review isn't enough to entice you to watch, then maybe this movie trailer will be:


[Photos courtesy of the Official Movie Website and MTV Movies]