Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
A friend of mine is a big Potter-head or Harry-ite or whatever they are referred to. Somewhere in the ballpark of five years ago she became weary of my poo-pooing the books and made a deal with me: if I read the first book she’d make me a batch of brownies. Never being one to turn down fresh baked brownies I took up the offer. After reading the first installment I had to admit that it wasn’t that bad and since it was such a quick read I picked up the second book while I waited for her to have time to make my delicious reward. Well, that was my fatal mistake. The next thing I know I’ve read every book and I pre-ordered the last one. I may not have admitted that to anyone before.
After once again returning to Hogwarts from summer break, Harry finds that the school he has loved is not quite the inviting refuge it had been. Since he’s been away rumors have been flying in the media and between his classmates that he and Dumbledore have been lying about the return of Lord Voldemort. To top it off the Ministry of Magic has sent Dolores Umbridge to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. However, her job isn’t to teach as much as it is to spy on Hogwarts and silence Harry. Her interference keeps him from getting to the bottom of his actual problem which is that he has been having visions, possibly from Voldemort himself. Harry and a handful of loyal friends band together to learn how to fight and take matters in their own hands in order to stop whatever plan Voldemort has and oust Umbridge from Hogwarts in the process.
Arguably one of the great successes of the Harry Potter film franchise has to be its casting. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all developed their talents as they’ve gotten older, particularly Radcliff. It is unfortunate, that such little time is spent with Watson and Grint’s characters, Hermione and Ron. The supporting cast is tremendous as usual and the addition of Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge is spot on. Her cheerfulness barely masks the malevolence of her intentions. However, it’s extremely disappointing that we don’t get more Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. Oldman is one of the finest actors working today, if not ever, and does more with the screen time he’s given than most could. On the other hand, I find that Rickman belittling someone is one of the more entertaining spectacles I’ve ever seen. I would follow him around all day if I thought he actually did it in real life.
With other summer blockbusters running close to three hours and The Order of the Phoenix could have easily been a bit longer. Some points felt a bit rushed and it would have been nice to have taken a moment to slow down and enjoy the scenery, particularly when it comes to supporting characters. Ron and Hermione sometimes feel as those they’re only there to give reaction shots.
Hardcore fans may be a little disappointed in how much is cut out from the book, but when you’re working from a piece of material that is over eight hundred pages long there really is a lot of editing to be done. However, most changes were good ones; they cut out scenes or subplots that aren’t necessary and generally just streamlined the story in general. Let’s face it no one is really going to miss Dobby.
Visually speaking, the way the dark tone of the story blends with the imagery may make this my favorite Potter film. Add the fact that you can tell Umbridge’s villainy not by her gloomy disposition, but by the cheerful lilt in her voice and her love of everything pink. In a world of dragons and dungeons the creepiest place in the film is her office with walls covered in collectible plates of mewing kittens.
Most of the problems with the film stem from the source material, particularly its length. There is also the feeling that this is a bit of a bridge between Harry as a child and the struggles he will have as he becomes an adult. In any case, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may fall a little short, but for you to go see it you shouldn’t need to be plied with brownies, which, for the record, I never got.
The Grade
- Story: B
- Acting: B+
- Visuals: B+
- Originality: B
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: B
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