Dark, professional, engaging and enjoyable

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 2008)

Another year begins for Harry with more challenges than ever. The Ministry seem intent on having him expelled and it is only some timely interventions that save him  but they come at a cost to those involved. Back at Hogwarts proper and changes are afoot with the addition to the teaching staff of Professor Delores Umbridge as the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Umbridge's refusal to actually teach the class sees Harry and his friends secretly practicing themselves but cannot stop her rise to power, displacing Dumbledore. This all occurs while the shadow of Voldemort looms over Harry's life.
I've still not bothered to read any of these bl00dy books and I'm rarely that bothered about seeing the newest films but I must confess that the Harry Potter films are often pretty good when I actually do get around to seeing them. It is a surprise then that I'm not more into them in the way that some other series have held my attention but there you go. Anyway, Order of the Phoenix eventually came to me on DVD and I settled down expecting professional big budget entertainment. And this is what it delivers and it is hard to fault it for what it does  again its failure to really grip me across films is not one I can pin on any one thing and certainly not in this film.
For my money the series has got stronger as it has gone along and it does feel like it has become more comfortable in itself and its audience but, rather than complacency that this guaranteed box office might produce the films have worked harder. Phoenix is stronger than Goblet of Fire, which itself was better than the one before (the first two films didn't really do a lot for me even if they were "good"). Opening with a tremendously stylish and gripping extended sequence, the film marks out its darker material from the start. It continues with this pretty well and the happiness and carefree introductions of the first few films are pretty much gone. I imagine that this will not be to the pleasing of parents of young fans but for me the menace and fear is pretty well balanced out, although I'm not a great judge as for me I like the idea that films meant for children would have dark themes and not just be a collection of soft shapes and bright colours where everything is right with the world in every regard.
The story provides some strong set pieces and the series has improved yet again in the area of effects. The final fight sequence producing convincing and engaging effect shots as if it was doing it just for fun. Yates' direction is effective and he holds well to the look of the other films but yet brings stuff of his own. He doesn't let it sag often and the film does feel tighter than earlier ones even if at times the "bigger picture" was lost on me as we seemed to have very specific narrative threads going on. The characters are stronger and parts of the cast step up to this; Radcliffe in particular impressed me with his range and he genuinely (and literally) has grown with the role. The supporting cast is as usual deep in British stars but this was not as distracting to me as before. Fiennes is a great force in the background and his limit time is well used. Oldman, Rickman, Smith, Issacs, Thompson, Carter and others all provide quality even in small roles. Staunton is a nice addition and does well in what she has to do even if I felt the film gave too much time to her here and there. The young cast are good in some areas (eg Watson, Grint) but the non-speaking roles are annoyingly overdone with their facial expressions and they bugged me hanging around the edges of action ("ok kids, act INVOLVED!").
Overall though this is a very engaging and enjoyable film that seemed to effortlessly fill the time. Something about the series is still failing to hold me to the long game and I think it is the development of really strong characters but this is getting better as it gets darker. Regardless though the film is very professional with strong effects, starry cast and a consistently engaging plot. More importantly it is better yet again than the film before and is a credit to the series at a time when most film series tend to fade rather than grow.