Absolutely glorious.

Rating: 9/10 (12 December 2007)

As a story, Order of the Phoenix is easily my second favorite of the series (behind Deathly Hallows). In the first four films we never really experience the true girth of the story at hand. It's all about the children developing into mature young adults who fully comprehend the wizarding battle and, more importantly, the danger of Lord Voldemort so that by the time we get to the last three stories they are prepared for battle against him and we can fully focus on the war at hand. There's always a great story/mystery with the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and how they always end up being the complete opposite of what they appear to be, and of course the genius of Sirius Black's introduction in Prisoner of Azkaban always amazes me but the story always centers around the children and their growth.
Order brings the series up to the dark, epic scale that makes Harry Potter's overall journey so phenomenal. It let's the audience know that there is a war coming. Each team is gathering their forces (the Order is rejoining and finding new members, especially in the form of Dumbledore's Army created by Hogwarts students who know there is a war coming and prepare to fight when it does and Voldemort gathering his Death Eaters and attempting to find the prophecy that he didn't have the first time) and the connection between Harry and Voldemort that was subtly mentioned in the first four films really takes center stage in this one. The final thirty minutes kept me glued to my seat with the sensational battle that is only a precursor for the epic war that's going to take place in the final two films, and then the epic duel between Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort that was beefed up from the novel and ended up being one of the most astonishing experiences I've ever had watching a film.
I really can't say enough about how brilliant the overall story of the series is, and Order of the Phoenix brings the idea of war right on the surface preparing everyone (the characters and the audience) for the epic scale that's going to take place in Half-Blood Prince. As always the visuals, cinematography and art direction are some of the best I've ever seen and possibly the best of the year. Overall, the performances are fantastic. The regular children are getting better and better as time goes on (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were magnificent in this one) aside from Daniel Radcliffe who is just keeping a steady pace of horrific acting; his scenes of anger and frustration ended up being absolutely laughable.
The supporting cast is flawless as always. I wish they hadn't cut so much out of the occlumency sessions but they still presented what was integral to the story and added a lot of depth to Snape. Gary Oldman's return was also very well-done and he once again proved that he's one of the finest actors in the series. As always, everyone is underused (particularly David Thewlis who is one of the best actors alive, delivered one of the series' best performances in Prisoner of Azkaban and was insulted with not a single word of dialogue in this film) but that's to be expected. However the film does introduce quite possibly the two greatest performances of the entire series. Feeling as if they were ripped from the pages of the book and put onto the screen, Helena Bonham Carter (as the sadistic, maniac Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange) and Evanna Lynch (in her film debut as the whimsical Luna Lovegood) perfectly capture their characters like I could never have imagined.
As always there were some exclusions from the book that upset me greatly; the final conversation between Dumbledore was over ten pages in the book and left me in tears (a conversation which also explains why Harry has to go back to the Dursleys every summer instead of removing him from that terrible place) while in the film it was a barely-memorable minute chat and they cut so much out of the ending (Harry's conversation with Luna about the fate of the dead and Moody's threat to the Dursleys, in particular). But exclusions are to be expected and they weren't nearly as horrific as they were in Goblet of Fire, so it's easy to forgive. Order of the Phoenix is by far the second best film in the series, behind Azkaban, one of the most entertaining films of the year and a perfect epic journey from start to finish. The best apart about it all is that it's just a precursor for the epic scale and sensational wizarding war that will take place in the next two films. I can't wait.