Last night I did what no sane person who has to work every day, reading no less, from 7:30am-4pm would do:

I went to a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie.

Actually, it was a 12:04am showing. The midnight show was sold out. As was the 12:01am, the 12:03am, the 12:05am, the 12:06am. The 12:07am still had openings as of 6pm yesterday.

When 12:04am came and went with the screen still showing fuzzy ads, the teenagers in the theatre started getting loud. One guy yelled out “THIS IS PREPOSTERUS!” which I found hilarious. I was in my element, though, being surrounded by teens. Most adults hate them, but I’ve always gotten along well with teens. They fascinate me.

The movie started almost ten minutes late, and then we had to sit through all the previews. Blah. (Although, now I have Get Smart and The Golden Compass on my radar).

Anyway….this is cut for spoilerish info.

I have to stop comparing movies to the books because they really are completely different mediums that cater to a different type of audience. I had forgotten that at first and spent the first several minutes of the movie thinking wtf? Not good. For example, Ron and Hermione are not prefects in the movie. The movie felt really rushed in places where I felt they could have expanded, and it felt drawn out in others. But the movie did capture the general essence of the book, and it’s a LOT darker than any of the other movies. Phrenetic also. I had to squint a lot because parts of it were so bright and flashing.

The overall atmosphere is wrought with thick tension. Everyone’s on edge. There are conflicts on so many levels. Harry vs. himself. Harry vs. Voldemort. Harry vs. the Ministry. I could go on.

Professor Umbridge was simultaneously funny (in an ironic sort of way) and terrifying. She is not someone I’d ever want to run into or have on my bad side. Except I think I’d already be on her bad side, but whatever. She was a one fun to watch, in a twisted sort of way. Her creepy giggle and her poison-coated sugary sweetness was larger than life and I loved it. The twins were charming as always. They’re also very, very tall. I really enjoyed Neville Longbottom, though. Watching his growth throughout the movies is an amazing thing. Luna Lovegood was adorable. She was no matter-of-fact about the most strange things, and that made me giggle.

The screenwriter took a few liberties with the storyline, but I liked some of the new stuff. The mistletoe appearing in the Room of Requirement was genius. If only it was always that easy to figure out if someone wants to kiss you. The kiss was awesome enough that people in the theatre cheered. One boy even yelled “You my boy, HP!” I liked that Cho was the one who snitched about DA and that was the reason she and Harry broke up. Much better than that old jealous, petty stuff in the book. The DA scenes were cool too, especially when they were producing their patronuses.

The Order of the Phoenix headquarters looked exactly as I pictured it. Kreacher was too cute. I’d pictured him a lot more filthy. I mean, he wasn’t cute exactly, but he was, in that Gollom kind of way.

The new director also changed a few things from the prior film(s). The Floo network looked SO FREAKIN’ COOL. And the Sirius Fire was so much better excuted this time around. The Hogwarts Express looked more like a subway train, which I didn’t care much for.

The scenes in Harry’s mind were also neat. Occlumency lessons, Harry’s dreams. Voldemort in a suit, ooh la la (not really).

I enjoyed watching everyone fight it out in the Dept. of Mysteries. The white Order vs. the black Death Eaters was amazing to watch. Bellatrix LaStrange is just plain insane and I loved watching her, except the part when she showed her true cowardly colors and ran off. Ugh. Just like that punk Draco Malfoy, who talks a great game until someone gets up in his face. Then he wants to run like a little chicken. Ugh, he gets on my nerves.

My favorite part was the fight scene between Voldemort and Dumbledore. Watching the kids learning magic, it’s easy to forget that the adults are powerful and experienced wizards who can do amazing things with magic. I didn’t want that scene to end, there was so much going on. Fire vs. Water. Dark vs. Light. Good vs. Evil. Voldemort vs. Dumbledore. That’s the kind of showdown I like to see.

Overall, pretty good. My favorite of the movies is Goblet of Fire, but I liked this one, too. Especially that last fight scene.

My body mildy protested when I woke up this morning, but it wasn’t too bad. I ate a hot breakfast instead of my usual granola bar and I just finished Red Bull #1. I’m sure I’ll crash when I go home tonight, but for now I’m okay.