Introducing the Nurse Ratched of Hogwarts

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2010)

This fifth installment in the Harry Potter franchise doesn't match Alfonso Cuaron's cinematic vision brought to life in the third film, but it is an improvement over its immediate predecessor, "Goblet of Fire." It shares some of that film's sense that a tremendous amount of plot is being squeezed into too short a film, and that all sorts of things that might bring subtlety and nuance to the story are being left out, but it's crisper and better adapted -- you don't have to have read the book to understand what's going on.
The most persuasive argument for watching "Order of the Phoenix" is to see Imelda Staunton's deliciously evil turn as Dolores Umbridge, a kind of fascist grandmother decked out like Jackie Kennedy, who may just have to kill you if you break her rules. She's the Nurse Ratched of Hogwarts, and you can tell Staunton is having a ball playing her. Well, I had a ball watching her....
Grade: B