"HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" (2007) Review
"HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" (2007) Review
I usually try to avoid reading reviews of movies I am interested in seeing.
Instead of relying on the opinions of others, I prefer to form my own opinions. However, thirteen years ago, my curiosity had overcame me and I could not help but read several reviews and opinions of the fifth film from the HARRY POTTER franchise - namely "HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX".
J.K. Rowling's 2003 novel had never been one of my top favorites in her literary saga. But after the near travesty (okay, perhaps that description is a bit exaggerated) . . . after the disappointment of 2005's "HARRY POTTER AND GOBLET OF FIRE", I could not help but wonder this next movie would fare. After all, the novel was longer than even the fourth entry. Fortunately, my fears proved groundless and "THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" has become my third favorite HARRY POTTER movie.
Before I begin to wax lyrical over the movie, I need to point out what I consider to be flaws in the movie. My sister had informed me that the producers of the HARRY POTTER movies had originally intended Mike Newell - director of "GOBLET OF FIRE" - to helm the fifth movie. Somehow those plans fell through and they found themselves scrambling for a new director before production was scheduled to begin. They eventually settled upon British television director, David Yates. I must say that for his second theatrical production, Yates did an excellent job.
But there is one aspect in which his years in television did the movie a disservice. The pacing. Quite frankly, I found the pacing a bit rushed. The movie felt more like it had a running time of at least 100 or 110 minutes, instead of a movie that was over two hours long. I understand that Yates planned to helm the next HARRY POTTER movie, "HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE", as well. Fortunately, his future HARRY POTTER films proved to be better paced.
I also had a few other problems with the movie. One of them happened to be Evanna Lynch, who portrayed the eccentric Hogwart student, Luna Lovegood. Before I receive accusations of sacrilege, please hear me out. Ms. Lynch physically captured the essence of Luna perfectly. And although she managed to convey Luna's offbeat persona in a competent manner, there seemed to be something missing from her portrayal in the movie. Then it occurred to me that there were times when the movie Luna seemed to be devoid of any emotion. She came off as too serene. And as I recalled, the literary Luna was capable of expressing more emotion - including anger at Hermoine's dismissive attitude toward her. And Luna was not the only character I had problems with. Characters like Remus Lupin, Percy Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks and the Blacks' house-elf Kreacher; barely seemed to exist. Lupin's biggest moment came when he tried to prevent Harry from chasing after the murderous Bellatrix Lestrange.
One last problem I had with the movie was the lack of closure on a few plot points. We never learned the consequences of Harry's discovery that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge's had used veritaserum on Cho Chang in order to coerce her into exposing "Dumbledore's Army" and Harry's lessons. I never understood why Kreacher even made an appearance in the movie, considering he did not seem to have an impact upon the story. The movie failed to bring some closure or allow Harry to discuss with Sirius and Remus about Snape's memories of the bullying James Potter. And what happened to Lucius Malfoy after Sirus or Remus managed to defeat him inside the Ministry of Magic? The movie never revealed his fate. Audiences had to wait until the next film.
Despite the above flaws, I enjoyed "ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" very much. It still managed to be a more than satisfying summer movie. The original novel happened to be the longest in the entire series. Yet, screenwriter Michael Goldenberg managed to pare it down to the novel's main narrative. I suspect many HARRY POTTER fans would have preferred an exact adaptation of the novel. Thankfully, Goldenberg spared the movie audiences of what could have been a long and excruciating period in the movie theater. To this day, I still believe that "HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE" and "HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS" could have faced a little more editing. And some of the changes made to the story - Neville Longbottom's discovery of the Room of Requirement (instead of Dobby the house elf); no visit to the St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries (along with no repeat appearance of Gilderoy Lockhart and Neville's parents); Neville's own revelation of his parents' fate to Harry (instead of the discovery being made at St. Mungo); and Cho Chang's exposure of the Dumbledore Army (instead of Marietta Edgecombe committing the deed) - did not hurt the story at all. However, I am certain many fans would disagree. What made "ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" work for me was the combination of a mystery regarding Harry's connection to Voldemort and the growing fascist state at Hogswarts that also reflected within the Wizarding World under Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. I have to commend both Yates and Goldenberg for skillfully weaving these two elements within the movie's plot.
The movie also benefited from excellent acting by the cast. In fact, I found this to be a great relief after suffering from the hammy acting that permeated "GOBLET OF FIRE". Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were top-notched as usual. And so was Matthew Lewis as the likable, yet clumsy Neville Longbottom. I especially must commend Radcliffe for conveying Harry's angst over Cedric Diggory's death from the last movie and frustration at being ignored by Dumbledore. And I want to sink to my knees and give thanks to the spirits above and David Yates for preventing Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Ralph Finnes, Jason Isaacs and also James and Oliver Phelps from repeating their over-the-top performances in "GOBLET OF FIRE". Oh, such a relief! On the other hand, Helena Bonham-Carter's portrayal of the insane Bellatrix Lastrange did seem over-the-top. But considering that the literary Bellatrix was equally hammy, I had no problems with this. By the way, I must applaud Imelda Staunton for her delicious portrayal of "Miss Hitler in Pink" herself, namely the ladylike, yet poisonous Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry undersecretary who became the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. In the novel, she is described as being toad-like, yet Ms. Staunton is obviously a more attractive-looking woman. But despite this, she managed to capture Umbridge's insidious and bigoted evil beautifully.
However, the movie's piece de resistance - at least for me - happened to be the battle that took place inside the the Ministry of Magic. I must confess that the literary version of the battle usually left me slightly confused. I guess I simply found it difficult to visualize what took place. But Yates' direction not only clarified the entire battle for me, it left me feeling thrilled beyond measure. In my opinion, the battle had catapulted in what I now feel is probably one of the best sequences filmed in the entire movie franchise. It was simply superb. Yet, there are other little golden moments in the film that I managed to enjoy:
-the Dumbledore Army's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons
-Ron stands up to Seamus for Harry
-Filch's attempts to get inside the Room of Requirement
-Ginny's jealous glances at Harry and Cho
-Dean Thomas' (Alfred Enoch, who had more lines in this movie than the last two combined) argument with Umbridge
-Hermoine's handling of Gwarp (different from the novel)
-the fact that both Ron and Ginny helped Neville and Luna escape from Draco and the Inquisitor's Squad (I could be wrong that Ginny helped; if so, please inform me)
-Harry and the Order of the Phoenix's trip to London via broomsticks
And one of my personal favorite moments in the movie turned out to be Fred and George's torment of Umbridge before making their escape from Hogwarts. Classic moment.
"HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" possessed have some flaws that prevented it from becoming my favorite HARRY POTTER movie so far. "HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN" still holds this title as far as I am concerned. But I must admit that back in 2007, I had felt reassured me that the movie franchise had not declined following the slightly disappointing "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE", thanks to Michael Goldenberg's screenplay, excellent performances from a cast led by Daniel Radcliffe and David Yates' first-rate direction.