Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Watching a good movie was a painful reminder that I had recently viewed a bad one.

I'm not sure if it's because Harry and company look like young twenty-somethings trying to play fifteen-year olds. Or maybe it's trying to adhere too closely to the text of the book (which is excellent by the way. Starting with Prisoner, the Harry Potter series loses its baby fat and becomes as appealing to adults as it does to kids). Or maybe it's just one too many Harry Potter movies in too concentrated an amount of time. Whatever the reason I can't quite pinpoint, I couldn't get through the first half-hour of this movie. I was so completely bored and disinterested in this movie version of a book I really liked, I wasted no time in getting it out for the next day's mail.

A big problem I have with these newer movies is the casting of Dumbledore. I just can't stand that new guy they got to replace the outstanding Richard Harris. Every time he pops up, I'm jolted out of the movie. I realize that Ian McKellen is over-exposed and so likely can't be tapped for that role. But surely there is someone else out there that can play that role without me having to bitch every time they emerge on-screen.

Another danger: Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint are getting too old. I know they've been pumping these movies out as fast as they can, but for crying out loud, I thought Ron was going to hit his head on the ceiling in Harry's room. They've got two more movies to make and I'm not sure how they're going to hide Harry's 5 o'clock shadow before the final movie is done. Harry and company remind me of the Beverly Hills 90210 cast, a bunch of of thirty-year olds parading around as characters half-their age.

All of this is a real tragedy because these last few books are the best in the series. To see them reduced to sleep-inducing versions of their literary counterparts is a poor way to wrap up the Harry Potter series for good.