Like a firmly built bridge in connecting the series, but not very memorable on its own

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2018)

While it is a step up from the previous film, the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix still does not quite capture the figurative 'magic' that the first three ( Especially the third ).
In the Order of the Phoenix, like in the first two movies, a lot of the scenes seem to take place indoors and are mostly beautifully lit as opposed to the Goblet of Fire which thrived on digital outdoor backgrounds which mostly looked pretty ugly, and therefore the cinematography is a bit better once again, but still not as good as the sweeping shots of the green plains and mountains were in the Prisoner of Azkaban. Its narrative is, also unlike the first three, not really anything special in this one, as Harry gets falsely accused, keeps having nightmares about you know who ( Which also happened in the Goblet of Fire ), while a corrupt ministry of magic lackey is trying to take over Hogwarts, all in a very linear fashion. There is little of the mystery & surprise that the Chamber of Secrets or Prisoner of Azkaban had.
The camaraderie between the three main characters Ron, Harry & Hermione does fortunately seem to be back, after Ron's weird fits of jealousy and unprovoked anger seemed to come out of nowhere in the Goblet of Fire which severely damaged these ties with the audience. It is also admirable how much better Rupert Grint & Emma Watson have become as actors after maturing with age, although Daniel Radcliffe sadly seems to be stuck on his level, as he could never really pull off the conflicted & angry Harry Potter that he is supposed to be in the Order of the Phoenix. It is less amibitous than the Goblet of Fire, with a lot less new characters being introduced, and on the contrary to its predecessor, most of the new characters in this film are indeed interesting. Especially Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge puts in a phenomenal performance as one of the most hatred-inducing characters ever put to films. Her snobby, arrogant & know-it-all behavior which seemingly cannot be stopped by anyone will make the audience want to gouge her eyes out, which does in turn improve immersion into the film since you want to know her fate. Helena Bonham Carter is also quite the cast for the crazed Bellatrix Lestrange, who embodies her insanity perfectly. Evanna Lynch, while not seemingly such a great actress at this point, is however simply the perfect cast for her character Luna Lovegood as this character is supposed to be quite odd and eccentric in her own way.
The special effects are most of the time well made, with this film featuring another spell-clashing scene, like the Goblet of Fire. However, the forced way of including Voldemort in the later scene of the film seemed to be a bit out of place, and only there to convince the Minister that the dark lord is indeed back and regaining in strength, which furthermore feeds my throughts about this mostly being a filler in the series. Unlike in the Goblet of Fire, the death of a character in this one ( Sirius Black ) does tug at the heartstrings a bit, since in both this film and in Azkaban we create a bond with his character, since his fatherly role to Harry and brilliant performance by Gary Oldman created one of the best characters in the franchise. Which is ofcourse in stark contrast to the previous death of Cedric Driggory in Goblet of Fire who you don't care about so much. However, Harry's denial of Voldemort controlling his thoughts is quite lame ( I have friends and you don't, therefore i have something to live for...., not great writing there ).
While it introduces some good characters and features great camaraderie between its characters and has some emotional connection at the end, the relatively simple narrative and overly politically influenced plot do little to capture that magic that Harry Potter is famous for, and most of the time feels like a filler if nothing else. It will not go down as one of the best in the series, but it is still a solid continuation of it due to the strength of the bonding of its characters.