Disappointing lack of emotional attachment

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2011)

I have grown up with "Harry Potter" and as preparation for the last film, which is going to be shown this week, I am going to be re-watching all of the previous films this week.
It is Harry Potter's 5th year in Hogwarts and he is met with much misfortune. Hardly anyone believes him or Dumbledore when they say that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has really returned. Both of them are scoffed at and thought to be ridiculous. The Ministry of Magic has even gone so far as to appoint one of their own, as a teacher in Hogwarts, to keep things on track. The new teacher is nasty and utterly unfair. On top of all that, Harry has been having some mysterious dreams that are somehow related to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.
After watching this, I realized that I hardly felt any emotional attachment with any of the characters. The closest I felt to sheer happiness was when (SPOILERS:) the Weasley twins burst in during the Year 5's OWLs and when the centaurs raised off to the deeper parts of the Forbidden Forest with Dolores Umbridge. Other than that, I didn't feel anything. Even during the ending. Oh, except for that tiny pang I felt when Luna and Harry shared that small moment, though. (/SPOILERS) It's weird saying that I didn't really feel anything about characters in a "Harry Potter" film. But that is how I felt (or lack of) while watching this movie.
I have yet to read the book (don't judge, I'm waiting for all the movies to come out first), but I know that it is one of the longest in the series. This movie is only 138 minutes, which is less than previous movies. So I'm guessing that a lot of scenes have been left out. Hm.
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is an adequate enough movie. It's not my favorite one, but I don't particularly hate it, either. It's so-so. But I really did miss that emotional attachment that other Potter movies gave. I also missed the Quidditch games that the other movies had. And the school work given. Oh well.
Viewed on: July 12, 2011