Harry Potter Lives Free at World’s End
By PaulWhat does a film critic, even an amateur one, do his day off? Go to the movies of course. In this case, I’ve taken two days off work for the forty-second anniversary of beginning my existence, and have taken in three movies in one day.
First up:
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
The bloom of whimsy is off the Hogwarts rose as things get all dark and serious. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has several problems to contend with. Dementors are chasing him. The Ministry of Wizards wants him expelled. Hogwarts has been taken over by Delores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), a perky Torquemada in lavender. Hermione (Emma Watson) is now taller than him and Lord Valdemort is raising an army again.
Probably by design, this Potter movie lacks some of the charm of the previous films, as its themes and situation are considerably darker and more threatening. Harry seems to spend most of the story out of step with the rest of the cast and Radcliffe is up to the task of making us feel his vulnerability and isolation.
This chapter hasn’t been as well reviewed by others as the previous ones, although it is definitely superior to the first two. I think the lukewarm reception comes from those unfamiliar with the Potter mythos and not expecting the darker turns in the story, as well as those who have memorized the books and take umbrage with the filmmakers daring to condense the story down to a manageable cinematic length. Given the number of balls that author J. K. Rowling has given director David Yates to keep in the air, he’s done about as good a job as anyone could have in bringing the story to the screen.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
This movie is long, loud, pretty to look at and confusing as all git out. The Pirates mythos has gotten so convoluted that summarizing the plot would be like alphabetizing a train wreck, but it has something to do with pirate kings, several triple-crosses, a pissed-off ocean goddess, eternal life and the East India Tea Company, not necessarily in that order. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. I suspect, however, that if you’re going to a Pirates of the Caribbean movie for the narrative subtleties, you’re the kind of person who would attend a Death-Metal concert for the sonorous melodies.
Now, you wouldn’t think a little English waif like Keira Knightley would have a lot of credibility as a Chinese pirate captain, but by the time that she assumes that mantle, your brain has long since said “Fuck it,” and is letting you enjoy the eye candy.
Even if you can’t follow the plot, the action set pieces are epic, seamless and consistently entertaining. There’s plenty to enjoy here, as long as you’re not searching for Pulitzer Prize-winning writing.
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
When I go over my list of things that I need to get through my life, one item I do not find is a fourth Die Hard movie. The first one was a genre-defining classic that rescued the action movie from supermen like Rambo and Predator-fighting commandoes. The second was a mostly entertaining retread of the first and the third was a disorganized, unfocused mess. Needless to say, my hopes were not high when Live Free or Die Hard was announced. It didn’t help that the movie got by with a PG-13 rating. Die Hard movies are supposed to be R-rated, with bloody bullet wounds and at least one “Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker.” That’s the rule. I looked it up.
The good news is that Live Free or Die Hard is far from the worst of the series, even if it is a pale imitation of the original. The story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but it sets up a hell of a fun house ride. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back in New York. He’s divorced and his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) hates him, but when a computer security breach occurs in Washington, D.C., he’s tasked to bring in one of the usual suspects, a computer hacker played by Justin Long, that guy from the “I’m a Mac” TV adds. He arrives just in time to save the guy from a hit team sent to whack him. It turns out that “I’m a Mac” unwittingly designed a computer program being used by a massively disgruntled government computer expert (Timothy Olyphant) to bring down the nation’s entire information infrastructure. Trust me, if you’re the least-bit computer-savvy, your mouth will be bleeding from all the time you spend biting your tongue over all the technological implausibilities.
Naturally, McClane winds up as the chief fly in Olyphant’s ointment, Lucy winds up as hostage and whole lot of shit blows up, with Justin Long taking over for Samuel L. Jackson as McLane’s reluctant partner. There’s nothing too original here and the lack of R-rated red stuff is sometimes conspicuous, but the movie is not boring or unpleasantly brainless. It even borrows a little from Speed, one of the best Die Hard imitators. The circle is now complete, or something like that.
Speaking of sci-fi geek speak, FBI agents named Johnson are the new red shirts. You can quote me on that.
About the author:
Paul's cat has violent mood swings between ennui and apathy.
Hello Paul,
As you can see we share a last name. If you google my name, you’ll see that we also have an interest in movies, as I’m a screenwriter, still struggling to sell my work. A couple of years ago, I moved to Anaheim to be as close to Los Angeles as I could get.
Since I was hoping to use high school teaching as a backup to writing, I was also pursuing a Masters degree in French at CSU Fullerton. Goodness gracious, we have a lot in common! I wonder if we’re related? If you google “Dawn McElligott screenwriting,” you’ll get a good rundown of my placings in screenwriting contests. One has a Harry Potter feel to it.
I’d love to hear from you,
Dawn McElligott