One of the best Comedies of the Summer, too bad HPOOTP was supposed to be dark and dramatic.(Very minor Deathly Hallows Spoiler, I give warning before it)

Rating: 6/10 (1 August 2007)

Three words: Too Much Comedy.
I pre-purchased my Phoenix tickets as soon as I could, for the past year and a half have been researching the title, very excited with every screen shot released. When I first heard Phoenix was going to be 138 minutes long I wasn't happy but I didn't worry, the last four films were for the most part good. After I saw Phoenix I was in a state of shock. My favorite book in the Potter series...ruined. Where was 3/4s of the book? Where was the drama and agony in Harry's life? While I will admit the acting and production of the movie was great, the story was terrible. I want Steve Kloves back!
The moment I knew the film would be terrible was almost from the beginning of the film. Harry and Dudley run under a tunnel and all is getting cold and dark just like dementors make the environment, yet the lights stay on? Wow. Then the dementor attacks Harry. In HPPOA the dementors hands are very skeletal and bony, now the dementors have normal human hands covered by black cloth.
I'll cover my biggest complaints now, I don't have enough room to type to write them all.
What happened to 'A Peck of Owls'? The movie had one owl fly in, in the book at least five fly(I'm not exactly sure).......SPOILER FOR DEATHLY HALLOWS..... I think each owl was important and especially the howler for Petunia from Dumbledore. This comes into play in Deathly Hallows......SPOILER OVER....... This scene would of been the only scene they needed to show how corrupt the Ministry of Magic was.
Sirius in the Fire. Now two years ago, in HPGOF, Harry talks to Sirius Black through the Floo Network in the Common Room. Sirius' face was made out of fire embers. This was different from the book but I didn't mind. In Phoenix they decide to change it to the way it was in the book, well why? There is hardly any consistency in these movies anymore.
The Kiss. Wait, shouldn't they have called it "The 'French' Kiss"? This scene was supposed to be a sweet teen first kiss on Valentine's Day in a Pub in Hogsmeade. Yet it somehow became part of the Montage(more on that in a bit), and it was in the not-romantic-at-all Room of Requirement. Harry and Cho Chang don't have a little kiss they have a 10 second make-out session.
The Montage. The whole scene with the D.A. and Hogwarts. It was a comedic montage that was very rushed and didn't capture the spirit of the book at all. It felt like a preview for the real movie.
The fight. Hello drama? Wait lets let them change the way prophecies are supposed to work. Oh yeah and lets let Harry give into Lucius Malfoy. Right? Wrong! This scene really does show that Harry is maturing; but it makes him seem like a baby. Now the fight. They just keep fighting in one room. In the book they have lots of rooms; one room has brains in it, one has time-turners and lots more. Then the climax of the book. Sirius' death. It's all comedy, comedy, laugh, laugh, Sirius dies, oh wait we aren't supposed to be laughing? Yeah. And the vale? Really, it looked like a giant plasma TV with a curtain screen saver. Then Voldemort and Dumbledore fight. Wow, I didn't know that two wands that don't have dual-cores can have a priori incantum. And at the beginning of the movie they make a point to zoom in and focus on the fountain at the M.o.M. kind of in a foreshadowing way, I was actually excited. Then the fight came and went, the fountain went untouched. Then when the fight is over Harry and Dumbledore are talking back at Hogwarts and Dumbledore doesn't know of this 'prophecy'. Right. In the book Dumbledore is the one who heard the original and recorded the prophecy. I love it.
I want three things back for Deathly Hallows.(Since the same people are doing HPHBP, except Steve Kloves is back! yay) I want 1. Alfonso Cauron to direct, he took the Potter series in the right direction, which Mike Newell carried on in GOF but David Yates has almost ruined the series. 2. John Williams, the first four movies had excellent music(Williams did the first three, Patrick Doyale did the fourth and Nicholas Hooper did the fifth)the music in four was different from Williams but it was true the Harry Potter. The music in five was excellent but wasn't true to Harry Potter hardly at all. 3.Steve Kloves, writer of the first four Potter movies, and the sixth! I'm not sure why he didn't do the fifth but I know he regrets it. I'm pretty sure he'll do Deathly Hallows but you never know. He really works close with Jo Rowling to capture the spirit of the books.
Finally I give Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a 6/10. For the excellent acting, production values, and excellent music(even though it wasn't right for the movie it was still good)
Hope this review was helpful. This is my first real review and rating that I have truthfully written. I have written it and taken my time because I love the world of Harry Potter so much. I only want the best for it.
Joey Waguespack(joefro72@gmail.com)