Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - All About Harry
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix B+
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Delores Staunton and Michael Gambon
Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images
Appropriate for ages 10+
The Story: Voldemort is back and this time he wants to finish his business with young Harry. With Harry supposedly safe at school, Voldemort finds a way to control school policy in order that he might discover a way to kill Harry once and for all. Harry and his schoolmates decide to form a secret group called Dumbledore's Army pull together to learn to fight Voldemort and his minions.
The Good: This is the longest of all of the Potter books and thus very difficult to put into a 150 minute film, and due to Michael Goldenberg's (Contact) excellent screenplay, the tale almost works in movie form. In the fourth Potter film it felt like it was a four hour movie cut down to size, but while there were many of the book's details left out, this story didn't feel as disjointed as it's previous chapter.
As you would expect, the special effects were fabulous, and I was extremely pleased that quidditch was completely left out of the picture. Radcliffe proved himself as a growing actor as well, playing the confused teen perfectly. Staunton was equally fabulous as the evil new headmistress Dolores Umbridge.
I was also impressed with the music composed by newcomer Nicholas Hooper. He held his own with John William's original score and proved himself worthy enough to be selected for the next Potter film as well.
The Bad: In order to fit everything into a tight package, the movie was made all about Harry and had very little to do with any other character, with the obvious exceptions of Voldemort and Umbridge. Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and several other main characters were nothing more than background scenery and many of the great actors involved like Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, and Gary Oldman were left, for the most part, on the sidelines.
I was also deeply disappointed with the Order's battle towards the end of the pic. The book was very confusing with regards to this and the film didn't exactly clear anything up.
The Summary: While there might be a few hiccups here and there, this fifth installment is still wildly entertaining.
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