Movie Review of Harry Potter 5

WARNING: Don't read if you're still planning to see the film!

So I caught Harry Potter 5 yesterday and I *loved* it! I just love that little Hogwarts world.

I failed in my mission to finish the book before seeing the movie (only got about halfway) and I'm kind of glad because then I could be curious to see how it all ended during the movie. I didn't already know the answers to what Voldemort was seeking or why Dumbledore was ignoring Harry.

Plus, it was awesome because I felt the movie moved much more quickly than the book. We didn't get bogged down by all their classes and homework assigments and Hermione knitting socks for house elves and stuff. I'm not even sure I want to finish the book now. I might just go straight ahead to book 6 - who knows when I will finish that one? Hopefully before July 28th!

But my friend made a good point... I thought it moved fast but if you hadn't read the book, did it move too fast? Just like with the Da Vinci code, I loved it because I could relive the book but much quicker. My friends that hadn't read the book were a little confused.

Anyway, back to the movie. Imelda Staunton (I think that's her name?) is sooooooo evil as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She played the role perfectly. It's funny how a little stocky woman that only wore pink and had an office covered with plates featuring pictures of kittens could be sooooo creepy - I mean, she gives Professor Snape a run for his money.

And I'm so glad they cut Harry Potter's hair. Especially when they would flashback to scenes from the last film where it was long and bushy and stuff. Clean cut is a big improvement. And I'm not the only Asian girl that noticed :) Hello, make out scene!!! Yeah, Harry and Cho totally made out. Underneath a magical mistletoe to boot. Harry is totally on Teen Beat cover status now.

The tagline of the film is "The Rebellion Begins". It sure does! For stupid reasons that I'm not bothering to explain here, the Ministry believes there is no threat of the Dark Lord returning. Further, Umbridge refuses to teach the kids how to actually practice spells, just the theory of defending against the dark arts. So the kids take matters into their hands and form a secret group, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry teaches them all the special defensive spells he's learned over the years. It's awesome.

This all comes in handy in the action packed ending when all the kids (even Ginny, Neville, and new kid Luna Lovegood) battle the Death Eaters including slimy Lucius Malfoy. And then there's the BIG battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort - total Yoda vs. Darth Vader action going on there.

The Weasley twins also have an awesome finale-like scene as well.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of stuff, but long story short - I recommend. The beginning might be a little slow for the non-die hard HP fans (as the lady next to me fell asleep during it) but it gets really good in the end.