By the book

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2007)

Those who have read number 5 of the Harry Potter series can see that director David Yates has rendered the events in the book in a faithful and orderly manner in this movie. He has lost no time in setting up the scene, the Order of the Phoenix in earnest preparation against the onslaught of evil and the final showdown between light and darkness not unlike what you see in the Narnia Chronicles. That however will take some time to come, two more movies, to be exact.
In the meantime, there is enough to keep the reader and movie audience interested. At a heavier level, there is the main plot line of Dolores Umbridge (played delightfully by Imelda Staunton), the government's (sorry, a slip, but that will do) agent coming to interfere with the educational process in Hogwart, the mind-struggle between Potter and Voldemont (and this is looking suspiciously like Isaac Asimov at work) through Snape's catalyst, and the final (for this movie) battle, which I think has not been given enough attention (I would like to see more of the action as depicted in the book). Pleasure can also be derived from lighter events such as Potter's magic lessons to his classmates, the episode of the gentle giant Grawp and Potter's first kiss.
There is of course the usual collection of actors a list of whose names looks like a "Who's who" in the British cinema scene. Potter's classmates have stayed much the same but Hermione seems to have lost a bit of her sharp edges, as Emma Watson grows into a young lady who can almost be described as sweet and nice. Of the new comers to this 5th installment, Staunton has stolen the entire show. But top-notch actor (I like the gender-neutral word) Helena Bonham Carter is miserably underused as Bellatrix Lestrange. A rookie chosen from over 15,000 girl, Evanna Lynch (who reminds me of wonderful AnnaSophia Robb in "Bridge to Terabithia"), despite her little screen time, does make an impression playing Luna Lovegood. Unfortunately, moviegoers who wish to find out more about these two fascinating characters will have to resort to reading the book.
Potter fans (which I would imagine make up an overwhelming proportion of the audience) will no doubt enjoy the 138 minutes of competent rendering of "The Order of the Phoenix" to the giant screen, despite the fact that it lacks some of the cinematic flare we saw in "The Prisoner of Azkaban".