Impressive, but disappointing...

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2007)

Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix was and is, the longest book of the series. It appealed to me as the most interesting book of the heptalogy. The character development in this book is superb. Many potter movie buffs will find this disappointing, and to some extent I'll agree with them.
OOTP is all flashy on the outside, true Radcliffe shows more acting sense/skills than any other stuff he has done. Whereas in the previous movies all the time I felt Rupert Grint was overshadowing Radcliffe's role, it's the other way round this time.
The good stuff of this movie is the visual effects, which are pretty neat. Radcliffe's acting prowess shows a great maturity. The Phelps twins as always are great. Imelda Staunton is superb as Dolores Umbridge, there cannot have been a better choice for Umbridge, she brings the character to life like no other can possibly have done.
The bad stuff is well, the direction, the screenplay, the background score. You always identify a Harry Potter movie with the score. For the first time the central theme of the Harry Potter movies(Hedwig's theme) is missing. That makes a load of difference for the movie watching experience. The screenplay like always is bad. There's bound to be complains about the screenplay if you are a fan of the book. Steve Kloves had raped the books and so has Michael Goldenberg. The direction I felt was poor.
The acting has been of the highest order. Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, The Phelps twins as the Weasley twins. The scene where Sirius Black dies, has got to be the highlight of the 5 movies so far. It has got to be the highlight of Radcliffe's career. It was the one scene which was amazingly done.
The special effects were mostly ordinary for the whole movie, but it reached great heights on 2 particular occasions. One during the escapade of the Weasley twins and the other during the final duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore.