Whew! Another fandom midnight movie premiere. Saw HP and the OotP last night (with friends! finally!) and enjoyed it. The Post-Dispatch reviewer gave it a B+, and that’s probably what I’d give it too…there was an awful lot missing (when you have to distill 820 pages into a 2:18 movie, of course there will be) but I think they did a good job at editing.
Daniel Radcliffe is still too cute for his age. His acting is better in this film than the others, though he was pretty good in Goblet of Fire. However, his acting is almost all we get to see. The other characters have been pretty much cut to secondary roles. Usually the most is made of any role, however small.
There are some tough scenes in the movie (as they were in the book, and if you haven’t read it, I won’t spoil you) but they’re done well. One of my friends remarked that this one was the first she’d seen where she’d read the book first, and it is a little odd to see it, knowing what happens. I think this one did a good job at keeping the suspense up even if you knew how it would end. Of course, I don’t think I’ve read OotP since the last book came out, so it’s been a while, and things had sort of faded into the fogginess of my mind.
I liked the ending (in the sense that it was well done, not the it’s-a-happy-ending way), though I wish it could have explored the book storyline a little more. There were some slow parts, and I wonder that they chose not to expand on the conclusion. People would watch it no matter how long it was. It’s the shortest movie of the five that are made, yet the longest book. It could be longer.
The music wasn’t wonderful. Nicholas Hooper composed it, and while there were a few times of hearing Hedwig’s theme reworked, most of it was new. It was very unobtrusive except when there were establishing shots, which I’ve never understood. Yes, let’s have sweeping orchestrals while showing you castle turrets. I’ll probably buy it anyway. I miss John William’s score, though.
This one won’t make me rush out and see it again immediately, unlike Pirates 3, but I’ll be happy to go with my parents or other friends.

PS about the car…cross your fingers that a) I can get it in for painting and alignment today (things that they would do anyway, but I bought it from them too fast) b) I can get a hold of my salesman so i) I can get a rental car for the few days it will take to paint and ii) they’ll agree to fix the cupholder that they *should* fix, but we didn’t notice at the beginning and c) that I really can afford this car…