Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 138 minutes
Year: 2007
Boobs: Zero
One Sentence: The books do not even exist as far as I am concerned.
I have read HP1, none of the other books. I am not looking at this review from a book point of view, what was left out, and what they changed, I don't even care about all that. I am looking at this from a movie point of view only, and I have been dying to write this since last Friday. Best Movie Of The Year!
I am a Harry Potter fan in the sense that I like the movies, and really love the idea, the characters, and the stories. I have never been hit with the electricity of that spell Harry seems to cast on everyone, well that was until I saw Phoenix. I am not sure what it was, maybe, because they are older now, perhaps the political undertones, and parallels with things that I see going on in our world, or the pure fucking badassedness of everyone in this movie, but Phoenix has made me decide to read 1-7 once The Deathly Hallows comes out in the theater and I have seen it.
Harry has been great, his movies have had amazing characters, and places, creatures, and magic. However I never got behind them, there was too much distrust of the kids. Too much shut up, sit down, don't talk, do as your told, and it drove me nuts. I could never get behind the children are seen, not heard teachings of Hogwarts and the instructors. Especially when those kids are the one's saving people's lives. Well I guess it was finally time for some vindication. It took a while and I was getting ready to write every authority figure off as a idiot, but we got a little something back in HP5. This change along with the what I think is a great story, and stellar visual work, really made Harry Potter 5 the best in the movie series, and right now for me the best movie I have seen this year.
I highly reccomend this movie for theater viewing. I have heard this review, is a little in disagreement with the book readers out there, so this is just coming from someone who has only seen the movies. I really enjoyed it though, and would consider seeing it again in the theater.
