Favorite

Rating: 9/10 (29 May 2011)

Normally I don't wait several years to comment on a recent film, simply because it is unlikely that many will read my comment. But the comments and reviews for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007) are generally so off-the-mark that a few supplemental comments could be of value. And hopefully my comments gain useful perspective from the distance of a few years since the release.
As has already been said this chapter of the story is a relatively small-scale one. The Ministry of Magic is worried that Hogwarts presents a security risk, and so it plants a mole (Dolores Umbridge - slickly played by Imelda Staunton) to discredit Dumbledore and to prevent him from training students to defend themselves against the dark arts. The Ministry is in denial about the return of "he who must not be named" (i.e. Lord Voldemort is back and preparing for an attack).
Personally "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is my favorite of all the films up to now. I have a lot of reasons. For one, while the three principle actors by 2007 had begun to look a bit too old for their characters (Rupert Grint especially so), the disparity is not so great that a lot of energy must be expended suspending disbelief; as is the case with the later films. And Daniel Radcliffe uses his maturity as a actor to bring a sophisticated internal life to Harry; something he could not quite manage in the earlier films. Another reason is that it represents the midway point of the overall story and therefore strikes the best balance between serious elements and elements of whimsy. And things stay fresh with the introduction of new characters like Umbridge and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helen Bonham Carter) who fit the film's dark/light balance by being evil characters who are amusingly overplayed.
But I suspect that the biggest reason I favor this particular film is that it does not flinch from the book's theme of existential despair. And they economically pull this off through the inspired casting of Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, my all-time favorite Potter character. Harry suffers a lot inside, which is one of the things that makes him different from the other students at Hogwarts, most of whom tend to avoid him. And he in turn tends to isolate himself, even from his close friends Ron and Hermione. The film version of Luna is the only friend who really gets Harry and he is energized by their interactions. "The things we lose have a way of coming back to us, even if it is not always in a way that we expect".
Rowling and others have pointed out that Luna is Hermione's alter ego; an illogical and impulsive counterpart to Hermione's analytical realist. Both process more information than their fellow students, but Hermione has filters to define and dispense with the information. Luna is less judgmental, for her processing is experiencing.
While these comparisons help define Herminone, Luna herself is important because of her similarity to Harry. The subtle similarities regularly amaze him and they allow her to repeatedly demonstrate to him that he is not alone. She is his bridge to everyone else in a story where he must subordinate his desire to go it alone if he hopes to successfully engage the forces of the Dark Lord. The film was especially focused on illustrating this special quality of their relationship.
Overall, what has most amazed me about the whole Harry Potter series is the evidence that Rowling had the entire story pretty much outlined in detail at the beginning and engaged in considerable foreshadowing; something you do not appreciate with the first reading of each book. The "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" adaptation provides an interesting example of how this foreshadowing can be done visually. Ginny Weasley is destined to become Harry's love interest but up until this point it has been mostly a little sister / big brother type relationship (Bonnie Wright was only 10 when featured in "Chamber of Secrets"). In "Order of the Phoenix" Harry is still preoccupied with Cho Chang (Katie Leung who looks considerably older than Wright). What to watch for are the scenes in which the Harry - Cho relationship progresses; each time the editor goes out on a static shot of a grim Ginny observing their interaction.
The two-disc special edition DVD does not include an extended version of the film. Instead the second disc includes a number of special features. "Trailing Tonks", a tour of the film sets hosted by offbeat Natalia Tena is especially good. There are also a number of humorous deleted scenes of Emma Thompson portraying Professor Trelawney, scenes that do not fit the tone of the film but are amusing on their own.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.