New tricks that fail to impress...

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2007)

The big three of Summer, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spider-man 3 and Shrek 3, failed in making effective cinema, but still nonetheless brought in huge profits. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will undoubtedly continue the box office success of the Summer blockbusters, but while it is easily a better film, it still fails to help make a thriving series become good cinema.
Continuing where the last film ended this latest Harry Potter begins to show the different opinions to the death of Cedric, and the return of the dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). The general consensus, as adhered to because of the Ministry of Magic and their minister, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), is that Lord Voldemort has not returned and that the Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) had something to do with the death of Cedric. All suspicion is placed upon Harry and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gamdon), as the Ministry believe they are raising an army of rebellion.
Considering it is based off a novel, the film does take some liberties but some fans will notice some scenes which should have been included, have been discarded, but nonetheless, The Order of the Phoenix is one of the better novel-to-film translations. Still, the story starts off slowly and never really picks up enough pace to catapult it to its conclusion which, like many scenes, was abrupt. Some scenes seemed rushed, and many camera cuts never seemed to flow logically into the next ,such a scene where Harry is clearly a good distance away from the rest of his party, but then the next cut has him right next to them without any indication that he was going to be walking back to them. Another problem lies within the story itself: it was far to linear for its own good, and contained no surprises for the audience except that the film had none. The film appears to favour characterisation, as the story itself only goes to end off in a similar situation as to where it started, and it just seems all rather pointless in the end.
And the characters themselves never help the simple story. While the main cast of Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) have matured physically, their acting definitely has not. For the most part they are stale in their performances, and even battle to put the right emphasis on certain dialogue. Still, the acting is not completely lost as the older generation of Gamdon, Fiennes and Gary Oldman prove both convincing and the most exciting to watch, although it is a pity that their screen time is somewhat limited. The film also tends to discard certain characters: Cho Chang (Katie Leung) plays an important part in the story, but after her transgression has transpired, and when Harry has learnt of the real reasons for her actions, the film then fails to try and build their relationship, and render her useless for the rest of the film. Ron also is given minute screen time, which is sad since he is easily one of the more lovable characters in the Harry potter universe.
Another disappointing factor is the locales which are just plain bland. Gone are the magical environments that littered the previous films. Instead director, David Yates, tries to make a flying sequence along London to be of great eye candy. While the scenes seems realistic, as do the many other scenes throughout the film, it is a bore and just very magical to gaze upon. Still the film succeeds greatly in the special effect department which some truly amazing spell effects, especially towards the end. The ending sequences themselves are noteworthy, because for the first time audiences are given a very war-like approach to magic, which is a completely refreshing notion, as it helps make the film more darker then previous installments. This added darkness makes Harry potter a more believable series, but also effectively makes the film less accessible to younger children.
The Order of the Phoenix is both a better and worse film in the series thus far. The world of magic is easily becoming more realistic and not some light-hearted affair at creating a simple fairy tale feel, and the film itself feels more mature. But acting, cinematography and, most importantly, the story, fail to deliver. This latest incarnation of the popular book series, is moving in the right direction and it's obvious that we can expect great things from the films to come, but then again, what is expected is never always delivered, and the order of the Phoenix is a prime example. It's not a particularly bad film, but it falls short of expectations.
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