Not as faithful to the book as it could have been.

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2007)

Naturally the film has strong points and weak points. After watching the movie twice, I hold the belief the film could have benefited from an extra hour of scenes.
Characters
The trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron were presented well with the only standout performance coming from Daniel Radcliffe. At times he appeared wooden, but quickly dispelled my feelings of boredom towards him with quick bursts of rage, particularly when he bellows 'Look at me!' towards Dumbledore. His acting towards the end was shaky and I'm having a hard time believing he put the advice from a bereavement counsellor to good use, as his acting when discussing Cedric Diggory was peculiar and felt forced.
The best acting in the movie is a close call between Imelda Staunton (Dolores Jane Umbridge) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood). Professor Umbridge is portrayed exactly as I had imagined her whilst reading the books. Staunton's performance as a firm, condescending yet strangely sweet villain was well conveyed, particularly in her introductory speech in the great hall. Prof. Umbridge was given the right amount of screen time to accurately convey her character without subtracting away from the plot. Luna Lovegood certainly is strange. Having read the book around fifteen times, I thought I knew what to expect from her. I was indeed delightfully surprised to see Luna presented so well. Her voice had a tone of wonder within it, her mannerisms in general were enough to make me feel uneasy  as indeed we should feel about Luna.
The great thing about the Harry Potter movies is that some of Britain's best actors and actresses are showcased. Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonnagal) has always been my favourite piece of casting in the series. Sadly, she was underused in the movie as she was excluded from several scenes. Helena Bonham Carter was a very satisfyingly evil  and rather sexy  witch. The few lines she had in the movie were delivered with conviction. Emma Thompson was underused also. The scene where she was sacked was acted well, but it felt like they had summarised that movement in the movie far too much. Ralph Fiennes had few lines but delivered them well, the same can be said about Gary Oldman, whose performance I really enjoyed  particularly in the department of mysteries even calling Harry 'James' with a nostalgic look upon his face.
The character of Dumbledore has always been difficult for me to relate too, particularly since the passing of the great Richard Harris, and his replacement with Michael Gambon  who himself has never read a Harry Potter Novel. His mannerisms are not graceful enough for someone of Albus 'Percival Wulfric Brian' Dumbledore. He does not command the screen as well as he should and did not look as smugly defiant as Dumbledore is portrayed in Harry's trial at the ministry. Instead he looked intimidated by the Wizengamot. Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) is acted as well as he usually is. His sneering personality is perfect and I particularly enjoy Rickman's emphasis on words such as 'Obviously'. With the next film having a greater emphasis on Snape, I really cannot wait to see more of Rickman's performances.
The Plot.
There was always going to be large cuts to the plot of the book, after all, this is Hollywood. What has happened with this movie is that certain unimportant scenes have been added into the mix, such as the whole of the DA (Dumbledore's Army) in detention with Umbridge. With the additions, come the omissions. The most important scene from the book, not to make the final cut of the film was the visit to St. Mungos. As well as providing useful back-story to Neville, the visit was also used to add emphasis to the horrific injuries Mr. Weasley obtained and to provide insight into what was happening to Harry. Instead, this was thinly skated over with a scene at Christmas, toasting Harry for saving Mr. Weasley's life. Firenze did not take over Trelawney's job either. Kreacher was portrayed well although his main purpose in the book (to betray Sirius and aid Bellatrix) was ignored entirely. The fight scenes at the ministry were done superbly right up until Lord Voldemort arrives, with the possibly exception of Sirius' death scene. For me, the death happened to quickly and was not as epic as it could have been, and throughout the rest of the movie, Sirius' death is all but ignored. I knew that as soon as Peeves the Poltergeist was axed from the previous films that he was not going to be in The Order of the Phoenix. Still, it would have been good to see him present, causing havoc and obeying the Weasley twins.
The action and effects.
The action sequences were hit and miss too. In places it was amazing and quick paced, in other places the action was just wrong. The final battle between Professor Dumbledore and Voldemort, although well done, was wrong. Fawkes did not make an appearance, as he was intended to swallow an Avada Kedavra spell to protect Dumbledore and Dumbledore did not bring the ministry of Magic's fountain statues to life to protect him. In reality this scene went way too fast and was not as epic as a battle between the two greatest wizards in the world should have been. I cannot fault the special effects though as they added to the overall excitement and kept the movie bouncing along nicely.