Brilliant - Near Perfect Adaptation!!!

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2007)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is currently my favorite book in the series. Having watched the film, I have to say, in my opinion the adaptation is near perfect. I was surprised that the director condensed such a long book into such a short movie. I feared the movie would be fast-paced like the opening scenes of Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix is far from that, moving at an almost slow pace. The director successfully translated the dark tone of the books into film. He director artistically and masterfully crafts the film, rather than simply regurgitating the book as the first two films did. The movie feels almost claustrophobic, squeezing viewers into the tiny hallways of Grimmauld Place and presenting them with a Great Hall that seems not nearly as vast as in the first film. As the film differed from the book, I felt that almost all of the changes were justified and made for a better telling of the film on the screen. Overall, I was particularly impressed by the first and last scenes of the film. I recommend this film to fans of the books, and to older fans of the movies. I feel that small children may not enjoy this movie as much, since much of the light hearted hocus-pocus is absent from this dark installment.