Reviews

Films

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Directed by David Yates, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

Harry is to start his fifth year at Hogwarts, among the never-ending rumors contending that he and Dumbledore are insane. When the school takes a turn for the worse, as the ministry sends Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge to instate her rules and regulations on the students, Harry and his friends decide to take matters into their own hands and begin to learn magic the real way.

The Order of the Phoenix is the darkest and most thrilling episode of the serial. Harry's life has once again taken a turn for the darker, which makes for a stirring opening scene in which he confronts some bullies. Then, he seriously breaks the rules when he uses his secret magic powers in front of civilians, or "muggles", to slay some fierce beasts known as Dementors. The school becomes darker, too. Corruption among its adult ranks increasingly overcomes justice in their magical world.

The film keeps pace with the latest developments in the teenage wizard's developmental years, and Harry wins his first kiss in his fifth year at the school for wizardry.

Enthusiastic fans of the previous four installments - especial the first and second ones - might feel this one is somewhat unacceptable, but hopefully, it will win a wider audience.

Liu Wei

A Scanner Darkly

Directed by Richard Linklater, starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder

Perhaps fitting for a film dealing with the effects of drugs on individuals and society, the animation in A Scanner Darkly makes it seems like everything is moving - even armchairs. Director Richard Linklater here employs a technique called rotoscoping to achieve the cartoon effect; which essentially means that after the real life footage was shot, it was drawn over. Linklater first used rotoscoping in 2001's Waking Life although A Scanner Darkly traverses far darker terrain than its stylistic twin. There's a real menace beneath the layers of artistry here.

In the near future, 20 percent of Los Angeles residences have become addicted to a drug called Substance D, or Death. In order to try and break the D chain, Officer Fred (Keanu Reeves) goes undercover and assumes the identity Bob Arctor. Along with his drug-addled roommates, Barris (Robert Downey) and Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), Fred/Bob becomes increasingly dependent on D. Meanwhile, mystery surrounds the identity of Fred/Bob's superiors, while his girlfriend Donna (Winona Ryder) won't let him touch her.

The mental degeneration of Fred/Bob features a few genuinely creepy moments such as when his friends turn into giant bugs or when he starts seeing human faces change form. Still, it takes him some time to figure out the bigger picture of how society has suffered due to the heavy-handed response to the drug epidemic. Based on a Phillip K Dick novel, this is intelligent, visually innovative stuff, but as with any Richard Linklater film you can expect the characters to say five lines where one would suffice.

Ben Davey

(China Daily 10/24/2007 page20)