Perhaps a tiny slip in the so far increasingly brilliant series...but so far it's been absolutely breath taking

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2007)

I would not for a minute tell you that Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix was not worth seeing or that as many critics have stated Harry Potter had "lost it's magic," fact is Order Of The Phoenix continues and achieves what few else if any film series has ever carried out and that's the continuity of absolute epic brilliance. So far from the very first film this series has only gotten better and better with maturity and story and part of that is the brilliance of the author of the original stories (which I have not read yet and likely won't until the films are behind me.) J.K. Rowling is so involved in these films and insists on absolute authority on each character and what makes it in the film and certainly if anyone knows how to bring her amazing and epic story to life it would be her. Order Of The Phoenix I 'think' is the bridge between everything from Hogwarts in the beginning unraveling to lead up to the epic ending of this series. Being the bridge can't be easy and probably doesn't fulfill some of the previous installments glory but it's still very important and still has some incredible scenes including an absolutely breath taking battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore that is easily on the top ten list next to Vadar and Skywalker, or anything from Lord Of The Rings. It's simply stunning!! The film does start out a little slower than most and yet seems to rush through everything but I understand The Order of The Phoenix is a massive book (in fact the longest in the series---870 pages) and that alone is enough to understand why there might have been a struggle to jam everything into this film that they possibly could and I have no doubt they did a stellar job but it still might have seemed slightly rushed and maybe a little incomplete. One of the most amazing aspects of the films to this point has been the incredible ensemble cast which sadly and unfortunately (but perhaps necessarily) leaves them in the back seat (especially the teachers and professors and adult characters.) However we do get far more from the students, from Harry himself and his best friends are still on the forefront. It was just sad to not have the more adult characters around more (especially Hagrid.)
I won't go into too much detail about the already existing cast. After five films this cast will go into history as some of the greatest character actors in this epic series. Brendan Gleeson, Maggie Smith (always been one of my favorites since day one of this series), Alan Rickman, Warwick Davis, Emma Thompson, and of course Robbie Coltrane. They all make their appearances in different lengths but for the most part they are further in the background then ever before especially Coltrane and they are all so amazing. The core three (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint) have their characters down to a fine art and no one else could ever replace them case closed. Ralph Fiennes is deadly brilliant as the evil Voldemort. New additions to the cast in this round is the annoyingly over bearing Dolores Umbridge played very well by recent Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton. She is a clever additional villainess so to speak who impedes the children in their battle against Voldemort and attempts a mass and hostile take over of their beloved Hogwarts. Staunton is a valuable and hopefully returnable character to the series. Evanna Lynch is the slightly odd but seemingly powerful ally Luna Lovegood who does an absolutely amazing job playing the seemingly spinny but very friendly classmate to Harry. I hope she too returns because she also fits right into this cast. Gary Oldman also returns doing an amazing job in his role as Sirius Black.
Order Of The Phoenix isn't quite as visually stunning as some of the previous films. They unfortunately don't find time to play a Quiditch game and there isn't quite as many beautiful creatures (the addition of Hagrid's giant half brother is very cool---would like to have seen more of him) and the mysterious centaurs in the shadowy forest were also quite stunning. Some of the views were brilliant but still overall this film seemed to focus far more on Harry and his struggles with Dolores Umbridge and his mind being controlled by Voldemort rather than going for the stunning visuals that were featured so prominently in it's predecessors. Still with everything being said although not the best in the series...to be this good and have this caliber of a film in the fifth installment is unprecedented and Order Of The Phoenix still has numerous scenes that have to be seen. It's brilliant and I wished I could have seen it on the IMAX especially with the added 3D content. This series is just amazing. 9/10