Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix {Book + Film}

This is probably going to be the vaguest post in my series of Harry Potter reviews. What can I say? It took me a month to reread the book and by the end I'd forgotten a lot of what I meant to say...

The Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series. I don't mind that at all, of course. And the only reason why I think it does feel a bit over long at times is because Harry has an attitude problem for the majority of the book. He does quite a bit of shouting and he's always huffy with Hermione and Ron.

One of the best things about this book for me is Dolores Umbridge. She's truly one of the most awful, cruel characters ever created. In a way, she's even worse than Voldemort. He's openly evil, but she tries to disguise her evilness with her simpering giggles and her pink clothing and her decorating style. I have this thing about villains who try to appear good (like Mr. Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre)...they're the worst kind.

I love reading about how everyone rebels against Umbridge at Hogwarts. It always makes me smile when the teachers are especially unhelpful towards her. (Professor McGonagall is awesome.) And I love the Weasley twins' exit...it's one of my favorite scenes of the whole series!

Well, I can't really think of anything else to say about the book. I enjoy it, but it's not one of my favorites. Rereading it this time around, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I expected to.

But the film...that's a different story! It's not the best adaptation, by any means. Like I said, the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book, and it also happens to be the shortest film, so that gives you an idea of how much was cut out. But for some reason when I was watching the film this time, I just found myself really enjoying it. I didn't feel critical of it at all.

The beginning of the movie feels so weird, with the creepy playground in the middle of nowhere and all of the fields and such. The first ten minutes or so don't feel like a Harry Potter film at all!

Evanna Lynch is the perfect Luna. They really couldn't have found anyone better for that role. I love her introduction...she really steals all of the scenes she's in. :)

 

The twins' exit in the film wasn't quite as good as the book, but I still like it. Especially how the teachers celebrate, too.

The only thing that really bothered me with the film this time around was how they portrayed the Department of Mysteries. We don't really get to see any of it except the room with the prophecies and the room with the veil. The book mentions all of these other rooms and strange things, but we never get to see them! Also, why is the prophesy spoken aloud when Harry is just holding it in his hand, instead of only when it's broken? That didn't make much sense.

But I really like that Ginny, Neville, and Luna really start to form a bond with the trio in this book and film. They're all great characters!

What do you think about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?