Order of the Phoenix

Danny and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday at the Scotiabank Theatre. Unfortunately, seats in the IMAX theatres were sold out, but the audience in the regular theatre was sparse.

Wow! Order of the Phoenix was my favourite Harry Potter book so far, and the movie did not disappoint.

I first became aware of Imelda Staunton last year in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film adaptation of my favourite Shakespeare comeday, Twelfth Night, where she plays Maria, gentlewoman to Olivia and love interest of Sir Toby Belch. She has a crisp, impish manner, so I was thrilled to learn she had been cast as the poisonous Dolores Umbridge. And she practically steals the show. Villains like Lord Voldemort are mostly fantasy, but most of us have met and loved to hate people like Staunton's Umbridge. She doesn't look the way J.K. Rowling described her, but perhaps that makes her more human, believable and horrible. This will be one of the most memorable characters from the film series.

Unlike Staunton, Evanna Lynch comes across exactly how I imagined her character, Luna Lovegood. The Irish teen has read Harry Potter since childhood, dreamt of acting in the movies, and was chosen from 15,000 girls who auditioned for the part. She perfectly embodies the class dreamer, the candid misfit who forms a peculiar and valuable alliance with Harry.

My only disappointment in the movie was that Tonks didn't get more air time.

The cinematography was outstanding, on par with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The opening sequence with the attack of the Dementors, a night flight along the Thames in London, the departure of Fred and George Weasley from Hogwarts, and scenes in the Ministry of Magic were outstanding.