A fantastic, self-contained side story

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2016)

The writer of this film is brilliant. He managed to turn what was a major problem for the story into an advantage FOR the film. The problem? Well, the bad guys (Death Eaters) are finally back to their full power and ready to strike. Therefore, there is only one logical thing for them to do at this point, which is go after Harry. But that clearly can't be the story told until the final film. How do they fix this? How do they tell another complete story without the forces of Voldemort as the villains?
Simple: The bad guys are the MINISTRY!
It's a brilliant solution! It's clear that there's nothing left the Death Eaters need to be ready to go after Harry, so that's the only story that can be told about them. But through the ministry being the villain, this plot is able to be postponed while still telling a compelling story.
The Ministry is filled with fear by the notion that the followers of Voldemort have returned. Their fear causes them to try and silence anyone spreading this, as they don't want to face the truth. This causes so many equally imposing obstacles Firstly, the Ministry goes out of its way to make sure that the students at Hogwarts can't be trained in magical defense and combat. This means the heroes won't be prepared when they eventually have to face Voldemort. Secondly, part of their actions is to stop anyone who attempts to build up forces or an army like the Order Of The Phoenix to fight Voldemort's army. This means that the Order can't gain enough followers or Aurors to fight the Death Eaters, as they'll get caught. Lastly, this also leads them to try to lay off anyone who believes or promotes the idea that the Dark Lord is really back. This means the people around Harry who can help him to become strong enough to face Voldemort are disappearing.
This is ultimately a side-story, but the presence of the enemy is still felt. The enemy was the ones who filled the once kind Ministry with such fear that it transformed into a twisted, contorted force of malcontent.
The only major problem I have with this film is the same problem I had with the otherwise fantastic Goblet Of Fire. The third act is a complete 180 degree shift from what the film has been up to this point. While still interesting in both instances, the climax focuses on some completely unrelated thing that doesn't close out the narrative of the film but instead goes out of its way to build up a plot thread for later. It's not as bad in The Goblet Of Fire, as at least the ending was somehow prompted by what had transpired in that film to that point. Here, the plot about the Ministry's corruption is literally abandoned completely as Harry has a vision about some unrelated problem, they take care of that, and then the film ends.
What? That leaves the ministry plot as a loose end that isn't wrapped up. And unlike the Goblet Of Fire, it doesn't go back and address the narrative it abandoned after the unrelated tangent, it's just never mentioned for the rest of the film as if it was never there. The film literally BECOMES a completely different film for the last 30 minutes or so. This tangent is interesting, but doesn't address or relate to anything that has happened in the film thus far, serving as a rather abrupt ending to a completely different film.
But outside of that, the Order Of The Phoenix still fights to keep the series alive long enough in a compelling side-story, to allow patience from the viewers for the epic final battle ahead...