A Very Skillful Adaptation!

A lot of times, when a book is adapted into a movie, there's too much tweaking with the plot or too much cutting of the essentials. Thankfully, neither is the case with this latest movie based on the Harry Potter books.

If you haven't read the book or seen the movie yet, there are some spoilers ahead, so be warned!

As the movie opens, it's the summer before Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, just following Dark wizard Voldemort's return and the Dark Lord's murder of fellow hogwarts student, Cedric Diggory. Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are attacked by dementors, the dreaded Dark creatures that guard Azkaban Prison. Harry repells them with a Patronus charm. This results in his suspension pending a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. He's rescued from his aunt and uncle's house by members of the Order of the Phoenix, a group of Wizards Dumbledore organized to fight Voldemort (this includes Professors Lupin, Moody, and Snape, Ron's parents, and Harry's godfather, Sirius). He's also reunited with best friends Ron and Hermoine. Harry is cleared at his hearing and returns to school. Harry receives a cold reception from many of his classmates due to disbelief at Voldemort's return.

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are being taught by Dolores Umbridge, a 'mole" from the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry and its head, Cornelius Fudge, refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned and Fudge uses Umbridge as his watchdog for the school. Umbridge bans magic from being used in her classes, prompting Harry and his friends to organize a secret group of students to study DADA properly. After appointing herself Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Umbridge sets out to catch Harry's secret group, dubbed Dumbledore's Army. They are finally caught by Umbridge. Dumbledore protects the students by claiming that he had ordered the formation of the group and escapes before the Ministry can arrest him. Things come to a head when a vision Harry receives send him and his friends the Ministry of Magic, culminating in a battle between the teens and Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. The Order arrives in time to help the teens, but Sirius is killed. Voldemort materializes just as Dumbledore arrives, resulting in one heck of a Wizards' duel. Ministry employees arrive just in time to see Voldemort escape after battling Dumbledore.

Harry and Dumbledore are exonerated, Umbridge is suspended from her position, and Dumbledore returns to Hogwarts as Headmaster. While times ahead will be hard, the movie ends on a note of hope.

Several things make this a great adaptation, which I've highlighted below. TOOTP book is the longest one in the series, coming it an over 1000 pages. This was condensed into a 2 hr. movie without skimping on essentials.

We're introduced to two positively evil new characters in this movie. One is Professor Umbridge, played by Imelda Staunton, who relishes punishing the students but hides behind a sicky-pink wardrobe and an office full of yowling kitten plates. I had never seen Staunton in anything before, but was impressed by her performance. The other is Bellatrix Lestrange, a particuarly fanatical Death Eater who tortured Harry's friend Neville Longbottom's parents into insanity. She's played by Helena Bonham Carter, who nails Bellatrix's insanity.

Neville Longbottom's character shows some major development in this movie. Far from the comical klutz of the first few movies, Neville proves himself to be made of stronger stuff in the fight against the Death Eaters.

We get a clear picture of the isolation that characterizes much of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry is stressed, lonely, and angry much of the year due to criticism from his classmates. At first, it would seem that only Ron, Hermoine, crush Cho Chang (who was Cedric's girlfriend) and eccentric new character Luna Lovegood are on his side.

While this movie marks the start of very dark times in the Wizarding world, there are some truly hilarious scenes showing Umbridge's fanatical attempts to stop the DA in its tracks, and one scene that shows what happens when Ron's older brothers decide to literally leave Hogwarts with a bang. I'll leave it at that so as to avoid spoiling it!

Sirius has more of a role as Harry's godfather in this movie. A couple of scenes show Harry and Sirius having heart-to-heart talks, further emphasizing the importance of Sirius in Harry's life. This makes Harry's rage against Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange after she kills Sirius more powerful.

Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel is truly a sight. Even though I had read the book and knew what happened, the battle still had me on the edge of my seat. The two Wizards use everything from a wall of water to a fiery serpent against each other.

I believe the director and producers definitely deserve credit for translating this onto the screen so well.