Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I've only read the first Harry Potter book but I've seen and liked all the films. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film in the series and perhaps my least favorite. I know as the books have gotten longer it's been harder to fit them into a single film. At 138 minutes this was the shortest film, which seems to have been an odd decision to make.

Harry confronted Voldemort in the last film and this film again begins with Harry in the world of muggles. After surviving an attack by Dementors, where he is forced to use magic in front of his muggle cousin, he's put on trial to be expelled from Hogwarts. Of course he's not but we're introduced to the Ministry of Magic which seems to not believe in the return of "he who shall not be named". They also appoint Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) to a position at Hogwarts to watch things. She's in all pink and sickeningly polite but she's hiding an agenda to cripple the school. Students are supposed to learn magic by reading and writing not casting spells and Dumbledore seems content to allow this so he's obviously hiding something too.

Meanwhile the students start off dubious of Harry's claims but some come around and he surreptitiously starts training them. He also has his first kiss with Cho Chang (Katie Leung) who's role is important but small. In fact all of the roles are small. This film seemed seemed both rushed and slow to me. Each scene seemed abbreviated and you needed to recognize recurring characters because they weren't introduced. As for new characters, I don't know what their names are because they were mentioned just once. There was little sense at all that this covered an entire school year. Yet, with all these rushed scenes, the film seemed a bit slow because no side stories were developed to any depth so we were forced to wait for the inevitable final confrontation.

The final battle was worth waiting for. The final battle had lots of magic going on and I enjoyed it more than the magic fight in the second Lord of the Rings. I saw it in IMAX in 3D and only last the 30 minutes or so are in 3D. While a few times it looked a bit cheesy at other times it was very very nice. If you have the opportunity to see it in 3D, I recommend it.

Oddly I wasn't really frightened by Voldemort or the Dementors. They appear, do their stuff and then are dispatched. But the new teacher, Mrs. Umbridge, scared the shit out of me. I found her political machinations reminded me all too much of Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales. She says what she does is for the good of the school and the students but manages to "teach for the test", perform warrantless eavesdropping, use extraordinary interrogation techniques, and her position is all based on inaccurate intelligence. What bothered me most was the ease with which she did all this and how all students and teachers seemed powerless before her. This went on for too much of the movie for my comfort but maybe more people will realize the references Rowling was obviously making.

Harry manages to grow up in this film, with little help from the adults. His isolation from his friends through much of the film gives a bleaker feel than previous ones. I know things will get darker, but I hope he continues realizes the importance of his friends and the future filmmakers emphasize this more.