Not only the second shortest, but also the second worst film of the eight

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2014)

Voldemort is back. That was the awesome cliffhanger Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ended on and story-wise, there were loads of possibilities for the follow-up in the series. However, Order of the Phoenix does not do what one may hope for and zeroes in on its protagonist's puberty. Since this is a franchise accompanying kids through their full adolescence, it's only reasonable for writer Michael Goldenberg to give weight to this, I guess, but that didn't stop me from being quite disenchanted while watching the film.
The adaption of the longest novel in the series turned out to be the second shortest film in the series, but before stigmatising one-time- screenwriter Goldenberg for this, it has to be noted that J.K. Rowling's fifth book is easily the most redundantly stretched and I expect few people to be disappointed at Quidditch, Dobby, and Rita Skeeter being absent this time around. Goldenberg also seems to have found joy in testing the boundaries of believability, going from the irrationality of Harry teaching his fellow students a wide array of spells and curses that he couldn't possibly have learned anywhere himself to the plot aberration of Harry and senior members of the Ministry for Magic flying over Britain on their brooms and making no attempts at all to conceal this from Muggles. Considering these aspects, Rowling stultifies herself when naming Order of the Phoenix her favourite instalment of the series up to that point.
Besides all of this criticism, David Yates (the fourth director in five films) doesn't fail as badly as Chris Columbus did with Chamber of Secrets. In the subject of romance, he used some very clever relationship-foreshadowing, as I noted Ginny looking at Harry more than just a few times, though she will have to wait for a response until the next film in the series. There's also humour to find, mostly in the shape of the Weasley twins who pleasurably get more screen time in Order of the Phoenix or Alan Rickman who puts all his acting talent into the role of Snape, especially in one commendable scene of him reprimanding a Harry unsuccessful at stopping Voldemort from interfering in his mind.
Cue Voldemort, a character I can't help to feel disappointment about, despite him actually gaining strength in the story. Whether it's for him having less dialogue in Order of the Phoenix or for the first impression of him having just been reborn not being around anymore. Nevertheless, the film's best shot still involves him, appearing in all his creepiness at King's Cross station, if only in Harry's imagination.
There's also a very visually appealing showdown in the film, getting best once Voldemort creates an awful lot of debris, and doing well at dramatically including one unexpected death into the battle. What has to be noted though is that Voldemort facing Dumbledore turned out to be ridiculous, as Yates obviously had no idea how to make a magical duel thrilling while simultaneously upholding its interest for more than ten seconds and decided – for whatever unlikely reason – to make the two combat with the aid of natural elements. The result shows that Avatar: The Last Airbender and Harry Potter don't go together at all.
And even if it should be a flop in every other way, the art decoration and set design departments are sure to do their job in the best possible way and they did a wonderful job at the realisation of so many of the Harry Potter universe's significant locations, such as the prison of Azkaban (strange enough, Azkaban made an appearance in one of the films' titles already, but it's until now that the forbidding fortress is finally shown) or the Ministry for Magic, especially when it's laid waste to in the final half an hour. 12 Grimmauld Place got a look as generic as one could possibly imagine, which – when you think about it – is precisely how it should be as the importance of it looking unsuspicious is paramount.
In my opinion, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not only the second shortest, but also the second worst film of the eight and the transition between teenage problems and the real peril emanating from Voldemort's return just isn't accomplished very well.