Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is thrilling-a beautiful and sometimes scary journey into the Harry Potter world. Fans of the books, and/or those who have seen the first four movies, will find a lot to like. It’s the fifth in this cinematic series with two more to come.
If you’re not familiar with the books or the other movies, though, you may be confused at times. Also, this film is darker and more grown-up than the previous ones.
The movie has some dazzling special effects. My favorite is a broomstick flight of wizards and witches. They look like fighter jets in some summer blockbuster, streaking along in precision formation and swooping over modern-day London. A wizarding duel later in the movie is also amazing: Dark and light forces summon up all their powers and spells during the fight.
This is the shortest of the Harry Potter movies at 2 hours and 18 minutes, and we miss some details contained in the book, including rituals like the Hogwarts sorting hat and Quidditch.
The entire cast is back for this film. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are still fast friends, yet also growing up quickly. Harry has his first on-screen kiss, which is quite sweet. Michael Gambon is again satisfying as Hogwart’s Head, Dumbledore. Alan Rickman shines in his brief scenes as Severus Snape; in this movie he’s assigned by Dumbledore to teach Potter “occlumency” (magical defense of the mind against others) so that he can protect himself better against Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Appearances by other favorite characters include a sympathetic Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), Hagrid (Robby Coltrane), Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith), and Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson).
All is not well at Hogwarts. Fudge, head of the Ministry of Magic, is convinced that Potter and Dumbledore are lying about the return of Voldemort (as seen in the last movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and wants to squelch such talk. Further, he sees Hogwarts as a hotbed of revolutionaries bent on questioning Fudge’s authority and his Ministry’s power; he fears that Dumbledore wants to supplant him as Minister of Magic. So, he sends Dolores Umbridge, one of his assistants, to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and also to take a hand in running the school.
As soon becomes clear, Umbridge (played with wonderful, cloyingly sweet malevolence by Imelda Staunton) is a disaster as a professor, refusing to teach her students any practical, real knowledge on how to defend themselves against the dark arts. Further, she is petty, vindictive, and ambitious. She fires or undermines other teachers at the school, and posts decree after decree listing more and more restrictions on the students and teachers. She has a terrible, painful punishment (which borders on torture) that she inflicts any student who displeases her.
Opposing Umbridge, Harry’s friends rally. They beg Harry to teach them about how to defend themselves against dark magic; he has, after all, had repeated battles with Voldemort and his minions. Harry agrees, and what follows in a hidden room in the school is inspiring: Harry shows his fellow students how to prepare for the dangers that await them beyond Hogwarts.
The Order of the Phoenix is a secret group of wizards and witches gathered to fight Voldemort’s increasing power and influence. Their ongoing struggle, which inevitably involves Harry and his friends, leads to a final confrontation with Voldemort and his forces in the Ministry of Magic’s Hall of Mysteries, a dark and scary place filled with tall dusty shelves crammed with crystal balls containing prophecies.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a good film, and will satisfy Harry Potter fans. Director David Yates has crafted another great entry in the Potter movie saga, released just 10 days before the debut of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.
-Duncan Brown