Marvelous

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2007)

Firstly I would like to state I have read the entire series (of course excluding Deathly Hallows, which has as of yet not yet been released - 9 days!) several times, and reread Order of the Phoenix before seeing the movie. Secondly I want to say that the score is Phenomenal! Honestly go buy the CD it is well worth the buy. Way to be Hooper. It rival's William's original score and that says quite a lot.
Now at last - I give the movie a 8 out of 10 because I found myself delightfully pulled into the story line, which was regrettably far too fast paced for such a lenghtly novel turned movie (especially with OotP being the longest of the six published), the believable, though at times simply odd acting, and stellar set's. Honestly the Hall of Prophecy (which was done all on green screen and reminded me heavily of 300's AMAZING and highly realistic graphics) blew my mind. The Ministry of Magic was wonderful, Grimmauld Place was dark, dank, and disgusting enough to pass as the once abandoned House of Black. It is true, the trio, Dan, Rupert, and Emma (playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione) have gotten better in their chosen profession, but hold nothing against their senior actors like the always amazing Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Issacs, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Mark Williams, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, and of course (my personal favorite) Ralph Fiennes. Though of course the newest cast member, Evanna Lynch by far steals the glory of the teenagers. Her acting is spot on Luna's character, the whispy and distant voice, odd presentation of herself, and her enthusiasm for life. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix again steals the glory for the adult actors, even though she had very minimal speaking lines. I was truly afraid of her, she was terrifyingly excellent. Of course Imelda was right on her trail as the pink clad, and completely mad Umbridge, who I have to give mad props for because Umbridge was far scarier in the movie than I imagined her in the novel. As I stated earlier the movie was far too short to really give Harry's anger and loneliness true time to be fully expressed, and the actually movie to make since. Though the plot line was not skewed dramatically as seen in previous films there were times when I muttered "That doesn't happen. Why's it in the movie? This makes no sense." My greatest disappointment had to be the cut of Dobby from the movie and Hermione's SPEW endeavor, of course I understand why it was cut, but I still have liked to see her geek side for once which is never really addressed in the movies (excluding ST, because she was rather a goodie goodie in that one. She lost that character little by little in each film). Another thing I would have liked to see, partly because it was not very important, but something to think about - Hermione and Ron becoming Prefects. I loved that Harry had to be alone sometimes, and found company with Neville and Luna. Further more many of the scenes were downplayed - giving the movie a less dramatic feel that the book inspired. Harry's anger is mellow, and not nearly as fussy as it should be, more of a depressed state rather than furry, which I found annoying. The whole movie was rather mellow - even Fred and George's "escape" from Hogwarts. The Department of Mysteries is probably the one scenes with real UMPH that gets your heart pounding, the other being directly before it where Harry and Hermione take Umbridge into the forest, where we see Grawp in (sort of - would have liked to see more) action, and a crap load of irate Centaurs.
And yet with the flaws I enjoyed myself more throughly than I had in the previous three movies - yes three, I absolutely loved The Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Potter enthusiasts - like myself - have to keep in mind sub plots have to be dropped to make the film a manageable length that will keep people interested and excited to see more.
Order of the Phoenix was marvelous. Not necessarily a must see, but definitely worth seeing.