Boy-wizard makes a stunning return
Harry's back, and he's intense. It's the logical next step in a phenomenal franchise, writes Jim Schembri.
HARRY Potter may still be a boy, but he sure isn't just a kid with a wand any more.
The nervous, bespectacled cherub from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) is now a tall, strapping, aggressive young man with moral purpose, revenge on his mind and a killer aim when it comes to casting spells at point-blank range.
In his latest fantasy adventure, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth and easily the best film in the franchise, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) makes good on those hints in earlier films that he has what it takes to stand up and throw down.
And things are getting serious for Harry. Phoenix has a few touches of humour early, but the breeziness that laced the previous films has been replaced with a darker, more brooding tone. Phoenix is similar in feel to Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, which is appropriate. Both films are about personal transformation.
In Phoenix, Harry and his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are faced with the rise of two separate, equally daunting evils.
First, there is the return of Harry's noseless nemesis Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who is eager to start a full-fledged war against the wizards and witches of Hogwarts. (Voldemort is the supernatural cad who murdered Harry's parents and gave him the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.) Voldemort might be able to both read Harry's mind and control it.
Then there is the new teacher at Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). She is a prim, short woman who dresses immaculately in two-tone pink and has a disturbing fetish for cats. She is also a first-class hag who has been installed into the school by the Ministry of Magic to undermine the authority of headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) by imposing harsh strictures on the student body.
Staunton (Oscar-nominated for her performance in 2004's Vera Drake) does such a great job stealing scenes in Phoenix it becomes hard to tell which is scarier — the merciless, all-powerful, soul-destroying evil wizard — or the smiling, softly spoken bureaucrat who insists that everything be done by the book.
Both these satanic forces impel Harry to rebel. In preparation for the war, he begins training his own army. Along the way, Harry has to deal with his inner demons, which he must learn to control, lest his behaviour be driven by impulse. Apparently Yoda from Star Wars worked on the film as a consultant.
Based on the phenomenally successful series of books by UK author J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter films have earned a combined box-office gross of more than $US3.5 billion ($A4.08 billion). Two key factors account for this.
First, the Harry Potter films contain all the requisite visual dazzle and special effects excess now considered mandatory for any blockbuster film series that costs $200 million a throw. In that regard Phoenix does not disappoint.
Second, the films have given a new generation of filmgoers a hero they can literally grow up with. Being the same age as his fans has given Harry Potter — and Radcliffe — a special connection with the audiences who have watched him develop, just as they have.
It's a bond no other big-screen cinema hero can boast. And with at least three more Potter films to come, nothing short of Voldemort can stop him.
Not bad for a kid with a wand.
HARRY Potter may still be a boy, but he sure isn't just a kid with a wand any more.
The nervous, bespectacled cherub from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) is now a tall, strapping, aggressive young man with moral purpose, revenge on his mind and a killer aim when it comes to casting spells at point-blank range.
In his latest fantasy adventure, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth and easily the best film in the franchise, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) makes good on those hints in earlier films that he has what it takes to stand up and throw down.
And things are getting serious for Harry. Phoenix has a few touches of humour early, but the breeziness that laced the previous films has been replaced with a darker, more brooding tone. Phoenix is similar in feel to Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, which is appropriate. Both films are about personal transformation.
In Phoenix, Harry and his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are faced with the rise of two separate, equally daunting evils.
First, there is the return of Harry's noseless nemesis Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who is eager to start a full-fledged war against the wizards and witches of Hogwarts. (Voldemort is the supernatural cad who murdered Harry's parents and gave him the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.) Voldemort might be able to both read Harry's mind and control it.
Then there is the new teacher at Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). She is a prim, short woman who dresses immaculately in two-tone pink and has a disturbing fetish for cats. She is also a first-class hag who has been installed into the school by the Ministry of Magic to undermine the authority of headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) by imposing harsh strictures on the student body.
Staunton (Oscar-nominated for her performance in 2004's Vera Drake) does such a great job stealing scenes in Phoenix it becomes hard to tell which is scarier — the merciless, all-powerful, soul-destroying evil wizard — or the smiling, softly spoken bureaucrat who insists that everything be done by the book.
Both these satanic forces impel Harry to rebel. In preparation for the war, he begins training his own army. Along the way, Harry has to deal with his inner demons, which he must learn to control, lest his behaviour be driven by impulse. Apparently Yoda from Star Wars worked on the film as a consultant.
Based on the phenomenally successful series of books by UK author J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter films have earned a combined box-office gross of more than $US3.5 billion ($A4.08 billion). Two key factors account for this.
First, the Harry Potter films contain all the requisite visual dazzle and special effects excess now considered mandatory for any blockbuster film series that costs $200 million a throw. In that regard Phoenix does not disappoint.
Second, the films have given a new generation of filmgoers a hero they can literally grow up with. Being the same age as his fans has given Harry Potter — and Radcliffe — a special connection with the audiences who have watched him develop, just as they have.
It's a bond no other big-screen cinema hero can boast. And with at least three more Potter films to come, nothing short of Voldemort can stop him.
Not bad for a kid with a wand.
