Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Review by Loc

With the Harry Potter novel set to hit shelves in a matter of weeks, fans are anticipating a joyous, yet bittersweet, sendoff for their favorite boy wizard. How strange is it to realize that an entire globe embraced this boy wizard, his owl and his broomstick, his boarding school hijinks, and most importantly, his cast of friends and confidants? So, while the final novel is set to rock the world, the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise arrives on screens 10 days earlier. And in a rare occasion, a Hollywood blockbuster has taken the backseat to a full-blown novel. Quick hit: quite a different feel from the usual Harry Potter films, but just didn’t get where it needed to go.

Yes, that was a pretty long quick hit. But really, the movie was two main things: a different Harry Potter flick, but one that ended up with the same results. In tone, in shot selection, in total film composition, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was different. From the opening sequence that showcased Harry in the muggle world, you can sense the wizardry universe is slightly askew. The set designs had a different feel to them, from the opulent Ministry of Magic to grand campus of Hogwarts. Even the special effects, like the sand-and-dust appearance of Death Eaters, seemed a bit more menacing than wide-eyed grandeur.

However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Where the first two films were little more than visual adaptations to their literary counterparts, this flick had moments of pure cinematic goodness. And for the first time in many tries, a Harry Potter scene could stand solely as a movie sequence as opposed to a visualization of JK Rowlings words.

Ah, but what about these famous words? Arguably one the weakest book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a lot of words that accomplished very little. You had Harry whining and complaining for nearly half of the book. You had a very blah plotline on how a bureaucratic Professor Umbridge usurped Dumbledore’s all-knowing wisdom. And in the end, someone dies in a mirror.

Unfortunately, the movie cannot escape the material. And while there are limitations in the subject, director David Yates seemed to hope that compartmentalizing these plot shifts would be an effective manner to deal with enormous task of adapting the story. Too bad, because this doesn’t work that well. Sure, paring down the whine-time of Harry is a good idea, but blocking it off into the first half hour of the movie seems artificial and forced. The next 45 minutes involve Umbridge’s advancement. Then we have the final act of kids in the halls, doing battle with major villains. It’s like everything occupies a set piece of the movie, and then it’s discarded for the next major plot point. Not exactly a smooth and seamless way to tell a story.

The acing performances are top notch. Nevermind that everyone looks around 25 and that Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter is now shorter than all of his cast mates. Radcliff still does an amazing job of bringing Potter to life, and the haircut is a good thing. His mischief making friends are good as well, Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as th ginormous Ron. Other notables include Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, and Brendan Gleason. Ralph Fiennes is very good as the noseless Voldermort and Alan Rickman is always gold as Snape. Michael Gambon is still missing something as Dumbledore, a lack of chemistry with all the main characters make this performance forgettable.

Overall, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix offers some nice advancements in the franchise. New types of action scenes and top-notch effects give this flick some legs. However, with so much book to cover in only 138 minutes, it’s hard to give the proper time to develop characters and plot points. It isn’t a bad flick, but it doesn’t really step up and deliver the homerun shot. Out of 28 students in Dumbledore’s Army, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix trains 18 kid soldiers. It’s ok, but not much more.