Harry Potter's Order Achieves an Outstanding O.W.L.

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2015)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a fantastic movie and the most entertaining movie in the Harry Potter series. David Yates manages to pull off the impossible in staying true to the spirit of the book while also giving the movie a personality of its own. Overall I consider this movie to be very faithful to the book even though it may not include everything. My only complaint is the omission of the traitor Marietta Edgecombe. Cho Chang should have been omitted from the film, not given Marietta's role. The pacing of this movie is wonderful and two hours just seem to blow by because of how caught up you get in this movie as a viewer. Although I like the book, the movie is better. This is largely because the movie moves at a much better pace because unneeded details such as about housecleaning are omitted. And some of the changes they made for the movie work quite well. Some viewers were disappointed that the meeting with Neville at St Mungo's was omitted. Apparently this was because the filmmakers did not wish to pay to build a set for the hospital that would not get much use. What they did worked quite well. Having Neville quietly tell Harry about his parents both allowed for more sense of a Harry-Neville friendship in the movie and Neville's uncomfortableness regarding the topic is retained when he says "I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet." Apart from omitting Marietta I'm quite pleased with the book to movie transition. The movie keeps itself going while being true to the spirit of the book. The acting and casting are splendid. I especially love Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Her portrayal of Luna is so picture perfect and so awesome that this movie would be worth watching just for that. David Heyman had said that other girls they auditioned could play Luna but that Evanna WAS Luna. This really shows on screen. Ralph Fiennes continued his mastery of Voldemort and Jason Issacs depiction of Lucius was delicious. We have two ruthless cahracters whose true colors show through in their performances and the feeling of danger they present is real. And of course Bellitrix Lestrange passion is awesome captured by Helena Bonham Carter. She really delivers on the madness of the character. We all know how great Daniel and Emma had become in their roles by this stage. Daniel and Emma got better and better with each film in the series and by this point they've totally mastered both the skill of acting and portraying their characters. And even Gambon has improved in his role as Dumbledore. I also like that Harry and Luna are on friendlier terms earlier in the movie than in the book as is evidenced by the forest scene. I always saw a bond between Harry and Luna as a natural so I liked that the filmmakers put some emphasis on that. I can feel the bond between Harry and Luna through the screen. Nicholas Hooper's score is very good albeit not on John Williams classic level. The special effects and visuals are outstanding and the overall production quality is a wonder to behold. The duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort was epic and awestricking. Perfectly shot, perfectly paced, perfectly acted. And I like the progression of darker color schemes as the series progresses as it fits in with the darker tone the stories take. And the filmmakers had a good feel for what fit. The ending shot where the Department of Mysteries Six, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna are all walking to the carriages together was a perfect example of this. This movie should only be viewed by people in middle school or older. Though less graphic than in the book, the Umbridge punishments scenes are still an issue. Harry's dream scenes and flashback scenes would be too intense for elementary school children. And although the movie depicts Sirius's death as less emotional than Cedric's death in Goblet of Fire, Sirius is a known favorite of many fans. Overall Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an awesome movie! Faithfulness to the book: 9 out of 10. Casting and acting: 11 out of 10. (Bonus point for Luna.) Pacing: 10 out of 10. Music: 8 out of 10. Special effects and visuals: 10 out of 10. Overall: 10 out of 10. Loved it! :)