Well, I'm a kid at heart, what can I say?
Under the guise of being early for "HAIRSPRAY", I discreetly asked the usher to print out a ticket for Harry Potter's "Order of the Phoenix".
My first shock? The price of admission. Friday's evening show was a whopping $12.75.
Oh well, there was enough of my allowance left to scrounge up some cash for a "kiddies' combo" as I slunk into the theater with dark glasses firmly affixed to my snoz.
A plush seat upfront and center screen beckoned me and I flopped into it for the big event.
Gee, as I surreptitiously glanced about the room, it was quite evident to my keen eyes there were a number of adults in the room without any kids in tow!
A few minutes later, and with little fanfare, the fantasy feature began.
Right off the bat, there was a perfunctory introduction to a handful of the delightful characters we've come to recognize and love.
A number of the roles have been diminished somewhat this time around, though, like Maggie Smith's character.
Obviously, the screenwriters kept a tight rein to amply provide requisite screen time to introduce a new character - Doris Umbridge - an evil new Headmistress integral to the Phoenix's plot twists in the popular enchanting franchise series.
The character is sort-of a cross between Leona Helmsley and Ann Landers - a portly woman trussed up in shades of lavender - who clicks her heels when she walks. With razor-sharp aim, she's quite adept at zapping a cantankerous young wizard or two when they step out-of-line.
Essentially, the storyline focuses on the return of the "Dark Lord" and his diabolical efforts to secure an oracle that portends the future. Of course, Harry Potter is in the thick of it all.The humor still abounds.
Occasionally, there are cackles from the adults in response to jokes that sometimes zing over the youngsters' heads.
For instance, a housewife infers a naughty innuendo when she wickedly admonishes a couple of teenage boys "for whipping out their wands" at whim.
Of course, the word has probably leaked out; without much advance warning, young Harry embraces a young beauty - and lo and behold - clinches his first screen kiss.
When his mates ask how it was, he quips: "Wet".
Curiously, the scene cuts to a shot of the lad tossing and turning over a nightmare about a long thick slithering snake.
One wonders, what would Freud think of this?
Clearly, the boys are coming of age!
The young heroine, Hermione - on the other hand - doesn't appear to be hankering towards any hanky-panky with the opposite sex just yet. Although her hair is coiffed and pretty, she acts more like one of the boys than the object of their desire.
Perhaps that is why the producers introduced a pretty waif-like femme fatale to waft on and off the screen now and then.Emma Thompson performs in a throw-away role. I didn't think it was possible to overact in a part that amounts to about a minute or two of screen time.
Gary Oldam also makes an unassuming entrance or two, winks at Harry, then disappears off-screen. What a waste of high calibre talent!
Basically, the celebrated sequel is all intrigue and bluster and teenage angst over this and that.
The ending - what amounts to a lot of state-of-the-art lasers and cataclysmic explosions out of an industrial-light show highlighted by to-the-death struggles between the forces of good and evil - appears to be coined from a well-executed Star Wars sequel.
Well, if you have to copy anyone, why not imitate the best of the genre?
Sure to enthrall the kids and even a less-sophisticated adult or two.
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