Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2007)

At 2 hrs and 18 mins. this is actually on the short end of runtimes for 'Potter' films, but delivers plenty of bang for the buck. The Dursleys make a reappearance, the angst from the 4th film continues, and the wizarding world is in plenty of uproar over whether or not Voldemorte is really back. Harry and Dumbledore endure repeated attempts to sully their word as the Ministry for Magic asserts the dark lord has not returned. A special group of wizard, the Order of the Phoenix, knows better and rescues Harry from Privet Drive after a surprise dementor attack. Once at Hogwarts, only a handful of students believe Harry and Dumbledore while the rest openly mock him or keep their distance. Harry meets Luna Lovegood, a classmate who has seen death like him and so can see magnificent flying beasts called Thestrals. But also on the scene is Dolores Umbridge -a Ministry hack under Cornelius Fudge who interferes at Hogwarts and replaces Dumbledore at the school when her strict rules and underlings discover Harry has been teaching other students how to defend themselves against the dark arts. However, Harry has also been plagued by mental contact from Voldemort. Snape has been trying to teach Harry the skill of occulemency to block these invasions but Harry continues to see visions including an attack on Arthur Weasley and a faked attack on Sirius Black to lure Harry and his friends into the Department of Mysteries so he can retrieve an orb of prophecy regarding him and Voldemort. A battle ensues between the children, the Death eaters, and the Order of the Phoenix climaxing with Sirius's death and Dumbledore's reappearance to defend Harry from Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange (murderer of Nevelle Longbottom's parents).
Of course there's an enormity of material in the book that doesn't make it to the movie. Some scenes that do make it in include Harry's half-hearted courtship with Cho Chang and the Weasley twins' celebrated escape from Hogwarts while Umbridge is control, and a few others. All-in-all, I think the movie did an admirable job with the volume of material it had to pack into a feature length film. Can't wait for the next two!