I'm not a film journalist

Due to some links between the charity my brother works for and a branch of the Warner Brothers marketing department, I was lucky enough to get to an exclusive preview screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was at one of their preview cinemas in London, hidden inside an office building, and there were complimentary drinks from the bar. There was also a complete lack of adverts of any kind before the film started, so no half-hour of messing about with ads for unwatchable 'family fun'.

The film itself, was actually quite good, and was missing the large amounts of schmaltz and over-playing of the John Williams theme from previous films. There was very little involvement of the Order of the Phoenix at all, but it didn't actually get in the way of the story either. The special effects were again a step up from the previous instalments, the prophecy room being entirely shot on green-screen. I would have liked to have seen their imaginings of some of the more fantastical scenes, such as the corridor turned into a swamp, and more rooms in the Department of Mysteries. It would probably help to read the book as well as watching the film, as it could be difficult to follow the plot, which has to move very fast to squeeze into the time available.

I can't wait for the seventh book.

[shamelesses]