Movie Minx

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton
Directed by: David Yates

What’s it about? Young Wizard Harry Potter is now in his fifth year at Hogwarts. After discovering in the previous film/book that dark lord Voldemort is back, Harry now finds himself branded a liar by the Ministry of Magic and treated with suspicion by many of his classmates. Will the dark side prevail?

But is it any good?

I think this may be the best film yet, but it’ll only work for you if you’re familiar with the rest of the story (as this is part five).

[Warning: This review does go into plot detail. If you want to see it and don’t know the story, and don’t feel ready for a book/film comparison, bookmark for later!]

Part Five is Harry’s ‘angry’ phase. The ministry won’t believe his claims that Voldemort is back, his hero Professor Dumbledore just seems to ignore him, and the piggy Professor Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), a ministry employee who is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, isn’t letting them perform any magic and tortures Harry in evening detentions. Her pink ensembles, girly titter and kitten wall decorations can’t disguise her evilness.

What’s worse, Harry is now having bad dreams and feels like Voldemort is taking over his mind. Bummer! And he’s forced to have ‘mind-control’ lessons with the loathsome Potions Professor Snape. (Although Snape, with his gothic locks and sarcastic, deadpan demeanor, is definitely my favorite character in the films. He’s played by Alan Rickman.)

As with the Spiderman films, every Potter film is ‘darker’. There are hovering Dementors, evil teachers, murderous plots, defensive armies, hysterical jailbirds and Harry even gets his first snog. How grown up! The acting’s improved, too, from the three leads. Harry’s grief and torment is tangible.

Fans of the book will notice certain omissions, since the 800+ page book could not fit into a single film. Luna’s dad is barely mentioned and his newspaper not at all; Umbridge gives many students the painful ‘lines’ for detention, not just Harry; nothing is mentioned about prefects; Sirius and Snape’s mutual loathing is not included; Kreacher is only in two short scenes; Percy has no lines and there’s no mention of his relationship with his family; Neville’s parents are not seen and there is no visit to St Mungo’s Hospital.

Still, none of these omissions/alterations let the film down too much. While it does feel pushed for time and some sections are breezed through rather quickly (Grawp the Giant, Harry’s heart-to-heart with Dumbles at the end), overall it’s a whirlwind 2+ hours, an intense viewing experience, and as usual we experience a colorful array of characters and twists that is the essence of what makes the Harry Potter saga so, well, magical.

Either you’re a Harry fan or you’re not. Fans will love it, even if they wish it was longer.

IMDb’s rating (as of this post): 8.2/10
My rating: 8.5/10

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