Five down, two to go

A few thoughts after seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

• These movies are being made for people who have seen the books: little exposition or backstory is given, and what is offered is spoken by the younger actors, who do not have the clearest enunciation in the world. And even if you have read the book, you'll be digging around in your memory for names of characters, spells, and objects. Important flashbacks flash by. One character who will become enormously important later is hardly introduced at all; you suddenly realize, "Oh, she's the one who's going to become Harry's love interest."
• This series is really being carried by an group of excellent British adult actors: Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, Ralph Fiennes as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney (the last two almost cameos), Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, plus series newcomers Imelda Staunton and Helena Bonham Carter (who adds a nice dollop of mad sex appeal to the mix), as well as Brendan Gleeson (oops! he's Irish) and David Thewlis. I left the best for last: Alan Rickman as Snape, whose line readings are striking and unforgettable. In his performance, diction becomes a weapon.
• The set designers once again deserve a large portion of credit for making disbelief more easily suspendable.
• The special effects are fine, but really just an extension of concepts that have been around since the 1930s. What comes out of a wand? Out of a ray-gun? Glowing stuff. The results are just less laughable now.
• I still found myself moved at the end. One of the main messages of the Harry Potter books is the same one as Tolkien said was contained in The Lord of the Rings: "the ennoblement of the humble."

Now to see if the last book will make the last two movies worth watching.