With less than 12 hours left until the first midnight showings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix take place, more reviews of the film are being published across the country. Here is a roundup of the latest reviews from the past few days:
The Miami Hearld has a glowing review of the film, which gives it three out of four stars. The review begins by saying:
The plot finally thickens in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,or at least it builds up enough momentum to pull off the most amazing magic yet for the wildly popular franchise: It is genuinely engrossing.
Devoted readers of the J.K. Rowling novels may disagree, but this is the first installment in the soon-to-be series-of-seven that doesn’t seem like just another spinoff capitalizing on the money-minting Harry Potter brand name. Instead, Phoenix feels like a real movie, albeit a chapter in a larger narrative that is only now starting to develop into something interesting and substantial.
Legendary film critic Roger Ebert also gave his opinion on the film. Published in the Chicago Sun Times Mr. Ebert notes the darker and more serious turn of the films, which showcase, along with the books, the characters growing up. Mr. Ebert describes a particular scene in the film, that he feels notes this evolution and goes on to say on the subject:
There will come a time, I fear, as we approach the end of the series (one book and two films to go), that Harry and his friends will grow up and smell the coffee. They weren’t trained as magicians for fun. When they eventually arrive at some apocalyptic crossroads, as I fear they will, can the series continue to live in PG-13 land? The archvillain Voldemort is shaping up as the star of nightmares.
A number of other reviews of the film can be found here:
Update: On the films official release date, a slew of new reviews have been published online. Here is a few more reviews of the latest Harry Potter film.
The San Fran one was pretty harsh, and obviously came from someone who is not a fan. But this movie overall looks like it is shaping up to be artistically, and emotionally the best one yet!
wow i jsut read some comments about imelda staunton and the fact that she is so good in this movie as umbridge that she could possibly be up for an oscar nod? wow i cant wait!!
I read the SF Chronicle review last night (as it is my local paper). I wouldn’t trust anyone who was paying so much attention to the movie that he thinks that the D.A. rides to the Ministry on Centaurs, rather than Thestrals.
I saw OotP last night at a screener showing, and it was amazing. My favorite HP movie yet. It was dark and visually stunning—great scenery, great shots, etc. I thought it was a great adaptation.
The Boston Globe’s review was awesome!
That reviewer hasn’t read the books, and makes the point of saying that they’d rather concentrate on what’s in the movie than be distracted by what’s not.
I can totally respect that.
They also said that Umbridge is like the genetic offspring of Margaret Thatcher and Attila the Hun (ouch!), and the description of Luna made me laugh:
“She’s like Dakota Fanning after a few conks on the head, and I hope we get more of her.”
I enjoyed this review very much.
-B
www.rottentomatoes.com compiles all critics reviews – so far Harry Potter has garnered a most healthy overall rating of 76% from 55 reviews which is fantastic.
I have no idea of what Ebert is rambling about or if he even enjoyed the film – is he given it a good or bad review ?
Ebert has really disappointed me with his review. He gave the film 2 1/2 stars and wrote this,
“My hope, as we plow onward through “Potters” Nos. 6-7, is that the series will not grow darker still. “
I think he needs to take a little more responsibility when reviewing these films. Like read the books and understand the natural progression they have to take. I just feel if he cannot understand the film’s purpose or why some things are the way they are…then don’t review it! And trust me, this is not just because it is a not so great review about the film, it’s what he says about it and his complete lack of knowledge and frankly continuity when it comes to reviewing the potter films.
Most aspects of this movie has brought differences of opinions. Nut the most astounding and joyful aspect I have found common with almost all reviews is that of Evanna Lynch. Almost every review have been enchanted somewhat by her. To think she has never acted before, she is lingering in reviewers’ minds the most. How fascinating is that?! Of course Staunton is making a brilliant impact with her take on Umbridge.
God, I have to wait until Thursday to see this film!
BabyMandrake I completely agree, I loved what they said about Luna. The few clips I’ve seen on yahoo movies of her are excellent! I love seeing a true fan do her justice!
Rottentomatoes has it as 75% overall out of 72 reviews.
I’ve read most of the reviews and they are generally really good; even the negative ones only complain about it being a dark story, which means the film’s got it right in my book!
The San Fran chronicle, though poor, at least praised the acting and also I thought was quite funny about Alan Rickman [they forgot to tell him he was playing a good guy!]. Ahhh.. but IS he…?
So the SF review was pretty harsh, but the others ones seemed fair. I liked how the SF review criticized mainly the book, and not the film itself, especially when the reviewer mentioned how Harry getting expelled for using magic outside of school, and then not getting expelled again was completely useless. That isn’t the movie’s fault, it’s the book’s. And besides, that entire scene isn’t useless. It shows how corrupt the ministry is.
Harry looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in [i]Witch Weekly,[/i] did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend."[br]"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley. "No -- of course I didn't!"[br]But she became consi
Cool. I certainly wouldn’t mind and R-rated potter movie :)