Hogwarts united against the forces of evil... and oppressive bureaucracy?

Rating: 7/10 (26 November 2018)

Looking back at the first films, I wonder if J.K. Rowling would have expanded the story so generously hadn't she been carried away by the success of the first books and their respective adaptations; probably getting new ideas with -this time- the cast members in mind and so many vehicles for new CGI "wizardry". Her 'baby' was undeniably caught in a virtuous circle and the fifth opus "Order of Phoenix" was no exception.
Although this chapter is a bit tougher to follow, it's all to the credit of a writer to be able to amplify such a promising material and make a coming-of-age story over the span of seven books. Naturally, the tone is likely to evolve as the kids approach adulthood and the inevitability of the final confrontation with the forces of evil ("Goblet of Fire" gave us quite a foretaste). So if the enchantment fades away in favor of more sinister plots and subplots, maybe it's only a way for fantasy to echo reality and the loss of innocence induced by the passing of times.
Neville (Matthew Lewis) who was the butt of many jokes in the first stories, has nothing remotely comical about him anymore and Drago Malefoy (Tom Felton) goes from the spoiled cowardly brat to a dark young man who won't be played for laughs any longer. By contrast, the least blatant changes come from the leading trio whose evolution followed a more natural pace. And here they are in their fifth year at Hogwarts, which means they're pushing to 15, older than their counterparts but looking young enough to be believable teenagers. Eventually, the only one who's still played for laughs is Cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) shell-shocked after an impromptu visit from the Dementors (an eloquent symbolism as the attack is set in a playground).
Yet the tone of this Harry Potter isn't as "dark" as it seems, only puzzling. After using a magical spell to put the Dementors away, a mail announces he's been expelled from Hogwarts. I didn't decide to give much weight to that because intuitively, I felt it was only a set-up to a denser story. Even the reaction of Uncle Vernon proved that it wasn't intended to carry some gravitas (I have a chuckle just thinking of Richard Griffith's ecstatic grimace, as if he was holding a seizure). Still, that was a perplexing set-up.
Indeed, why wouldn't Harry Potter be trusted anymore? Wasn't that an obvious case of self-defense? Wasn't the Ministry of Magic overreacting a little? Why wouldn't they believe that You-Know-Who was back? Not to spoil the previous chapter but how did they think that 'incident' ever happened? Harry's judgment made me question the choices of Rowling to insert some comments against bureaucracy and political corruption in her universe, that's a level of maturity I didn't expect especially since it took time for the main plot to take its full shape.
So what strikes in "Order of Phoenix" is that new loosely structure tone, combined with several new faces and a storyline that demands a lot of patience and has gotten me lost several times. Obviously, the big shots of the Wizard worlds don't trust Voldemort's return and officially appoint Dolores Umbridge as the new teacher of you-know-what, officiously a "mole" determined to whip everyone in line. While she has the traits of Cinderella's godmother, Imella Staunton plays Umbridge as a combo between Nurse Ratched and a caricature of Margaret Thatcher with the pink outfit of Jackie Kennedy. Maybe too one-dimensional to be an endearing villain, she was a scene-stealing presence.
Speaking of the newcomers, there's the unbelievably sexy Natalia Tena Nymphadora Tonks (a name more fitted for a James Bond girl) and Evanna Lynch plays the dreamy blonde Luna Lovegood, a girl who seems to live in her own world and looks strange even by Hogwarts standards. Finally, there's Helena Bonham Carter who makes quite an entrance as the Death Eather cousin of Sirius Black: Bellatrix Lestrange. It's not much the way she looks than what she does in that film that would leave no skepticism about her status as a serious villain. There's a lot to digest in that film, as you can see, but from what I read, the book is the longest of the series, so the task of David Yates was rather Herculean.
And it's no wonder the result feels like such a maze of secrets, traps, chases, escapes and revelations, including a great one about Harry Potter's father, giving him more depth and humanity than the eternal sanctification that started from chapter one. One can easily lose his track in the film but I guess the best way to stay focused is just to follow Harry Potter, he IS the touchstone of the series, and never knows more than we do. Perhaps that's the best thing about the series, we know there are events that precede him, a lot of foreshadowing, but as long as we stay with him, answers will come sooner or later, with style or heavy drama.
Now of course, Harry's not the round little wizard with eyes getting wide after a successful magical trick, his personality has turned into something fully dimensional and far more complex than many franchise characters... he's not the protagonist of a rich universe, he's a universe by himself and maybe that's why he's often inclined to do the job alone, as if he felt his friends shouldn't venture in the same places than he, as if he had to carry alone the burden of being the "chosen one". But "Order of Phoenix" has this novelty (foreshadowed in the title) that this time, the game gets bigger... so they all work as a team, and not just a trio.
It's all about spreading the wealth and the film has the juice of a thrilling adventure movie, the score that goes with it and the climax that redeems a few little flaws.