Catch-up

Following on from last night, here are two more pieces that have been sitting on my system for far too long. The first is a review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

3 STARS
It’s that time of year again. The sun is shining. The children are frolicking in their summer freedom. Bums are numbed by the length of the latest Harry Potter release.
To be fair, HPATOOTP isn’t as long as some of its predecessors or its rivals this year. The series is, however, slipping into formula. A new teacher is needed for Defence Against the Dark Arts again, another of Harry’s friends dies (with a certain headmaster’s extinction well signposted for the next instalment), once more a climatic confrontation leaves Potter and his archenemy at square one. What’s changed? Harry Potter is a year older.
This is not to disparage its entertainment value; after all, soap operas are past masters at repeating themselves. It’s just that, like soap operas, you could miss an episode - sorry, film - but still catch up with the action next year. It fails to escape the inherent trouble with sequels, that of creating standalone movies for newcomers while still capturing the interest of the devotees who were there at the beginning.
The acting is what you might expect. Daniel Radcliffe continues to mature into the lead role and there are plenty of old hands playing the adult support roles that know how not to disappoint, giving the comedic moments space to breathe while not undermining the serious scenes (especially Robbie Coltrane). One of the henchwomen (Helena Bonham Carter), a tad unkempt, looks like Amy Winehouse - obviously the rehab failed (try The Priory next time instead of Azkaban, luv).
There are some sweet topical jabs. Government interference in schools leading to children being examined into ennui by interminable tests; a minister blinkered to an ongoing, unfurling crisis (can’t think what that might be about). Maybe it’s going too far in believing the new teacher (Imelda Staunton) is akin to Tony Blair. As nice as pie at first, but possessing a vicious streak, denouncing and acting illegally against those who oppose his, er, her control freakery and the myriad new, draconian decrees this traditional curtain twitcher introduces. She is a tyrant in pink as she goes around imposing her totalitarian system. However, her bellowing insistence on “order” is more the ordure of cliché. There’s also a swipe at journalism through the Daily Prophet (profit, geddit?), a rag of the lowest order, though curious it should operate a monopoly in an information market.
Talking of episodes, the action in HPATOOTP has plenty of similarity with the Star Wars series - making the choice between good and evil, all that magic lightning, references to “old man”, friends warning of “a trap” - with a dash of Lord of the Rings thrown in. And this illuminates another problem. In the rage for New Age and a host of sword and/or sorcery films upcoming, time has found out the Harry Potter franchise with the blurring between imitated and imitator. Harry Potter will have to up his game if the final two chapters are to be distinguished above its competitors.