It took me two tries, but believe me when I say that I am happy to have loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the second time around after being quite down on it the first time.
Following up the action-packed Goblet of Fire and the promise of plenty of action in the trailers I expected the same from Order of the Phoenix, but this is something of an Empire Strikes Back kind of a film. Order of the Phoenix is the go between film of the franchise, the film that brings everything you know from the first four together with new information that sets up the excitement to come in the final two.
I stopped reading the Harry Potter books after “Prisoner of Azkaban” only in an effort to enjoy the movies more; after all I am a movie reviewer. From what I have been told “Goblet of Fire” had a few things left out and at 870 pages “Order of the Phoenix” is the longest book of the franchise and from what I hear it is not the best. So, adapting such a long tome into a movie with a two hour and 18 minute running time can’t be easy, and one of my particular beefs with it the first time I saw it were the noticeable holes and erratic jumps in storytelling. However, I now contend that this only bothered me because I was expecting action and not so much actual storytelling.
Lord Voldemort is on the move, he’s back and the Ministry of Magic won’t admit it, calling Dumbledore and Harry liars and plotters. This is just one of the problems Harry must face in Order of the Phoenix as puberty sets in and his mind doesn’t appear to be his own. Harry must rely on his friends for support as this movie moves from its somber setup to a fantastic end battle.
Order of the Phoenix opens up a Pandora’s Box of secrets and several little tidbits are left wide open for interpretation creating much anticipation for the next movie.
Ralph Fiennes once again proves he was a phenomenal choice as Lord Voldemort and Alan Rickman is fantastic as Severus Snape and I only wish there was more than about five minutes of him in this movie.
On the female side Imelda Staunton is perfect as Dolores Umbridge with her delicate torture of the children of Hogwarts, but the big surprise is Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Found via an open casting call Lynch takes on the part of Lovegood and absolutely owns it with her quiet, sweet and disarming charm.
Since I have not read “Order of the Phoenix” I can’t tell you how much is missing, but I took a hardcore Harry Potter fan with me the second go around and she absolutely loved it. If you need any more proof that I enjoyed myself in this movie, my Harry Potter book embargo is out the window as I started “Half Blood Prince” last night and am already looking forward to next November.
