Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review
by Jerry Saravia (Faust668 AT msn DOT com)January 4th, 2008
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (2007)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars
Mr. Harry Potter continues to wield his magic wand, and has yet to cross into "American Pie" territory. This is good news because the films could have easily focused more on romance than magic, witchcraft and the forbidden. The fifth adaptation of the highly popular J.K. Rowling books has matriculated nicely into a new cinematic, richer chapter. I wouldn't say it is better than "Prisoner of Azkaban" but it is almost on par with the dreary look of "Goblet of Fire."
When we last saw our bespectacled Harry, he survived the death grip of the evil lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), though it did cost the life of one other wizard. Harry is also prone to using his magic outside of his Hogwarts school in defense of other evil spirits, especially the faceless Dementors (first seen in "Prisoner of Azkaban"). Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic has threatened to expel Harry for using magic outside school grounds (Time for detention, Mr. Potter!) However, with Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) at his side, Harry explains that Voldemort is back. No one from the faculty believes him, but he is allowed to stay in school.
More havoc ensues when a new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, the always beaming and severely critical disciplinarian Dolores Umbridge (superbly played by Imelda Staunton), begins to taunt students, proclaiming new rules left and right, and essentially destroying everyone's spirit - as if Voldemort didn't do enough to crush spirits. Meanwhile, Harry builds an army of Hogwarts students to help defeat Ms. Umbridge, harnessing their abilities to think of good, pleasant thoughts. There is enough dreariness in the dank world of Hogwarts.
Adapted from the longest novel in the series, "Order of the Phoenix" is actually the shortest in the film series. It contains just about everything you would expect from Harry Potter. There are angry centaurs, magic spells, a dimwitted giant who looks like Alfred E. Newman, the shrieking Dementors, animated portraitures, newspapers with animated pictures, flying brooms, angrier house elves, etc. More crucially successful than all the impressive special-effects (which are kept to a minimum) is the emphasis on Harry Potter's mental condition. He stands up to everyone, including Professor Dumbledore. He has constant nightmares about the evil Voldemort and fears that he may share the dark lord's powers. Harry also gets his first romantic kiss with fellow student, Cho Chang (Katie Leung), but wizardry takes precedence over romance.
As much as I like this entry in the "Harry Potter" series, I can't say I like it as much as "Goblet of Fire" ("Prisoner of Azkaban" still stands head and tails above the rest). This adaptation curtails too many characters and motivations. It is nice to see the giant Hagrid back (once again played by Robbie Coltrane) but his character is short- shrifted, as is his half-brother Grawp, a far bigger giant (and a wonderful cinematic creation to behold). Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) appears but all too briefly, though I sense his presence will grow in the next chapter. We get the new female student for Harry, the lovely Katie Leung as the aforementioned Cho Chang, but her character also seems to have been left on the cutting room floor (especially when she is central to a major plot development). Even Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), Harry Potter's most trustworthy allies, seem to drift in the background - their only purpose is to help Harry confront his demons.
We do see a brief, chilling flashback that lends unexpected new depth to the Potions Master teacher, Snape (Alan Rickman). There is also much more time devoted to Harry's godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who has a distinctive fighting style for a wizard. And we get a new character, the deeply mad, wraithlike Death-Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), who breaks out of the Azkaban Prison and is Sirius Black's cousin.
Given how difficult it is to keep track of all the characters (and many of which I have excluded), "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is still magical, heartfelt and deeply effective, though noticeably and understandably darker in tone. Now that Harry Potter and friends are seen flying in their brooms over the city of London, I wonder if anyone from the outside will ever wonder what kind of bureaucratic and nonsensical spell has been cast at the Hogwarts school.
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