Spectacular

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2007)

I have seen Order of the Phoenix twice, and it still blows me away. And yes, I have read all the books more than 3 times, and I still love the movie. David Yates did a fantastic job in choosing the scenes that were relevant to the plot, and although the movie went by relatively fast, it didn't just "hop" from one major event to another. I don't know why everyone is complaining about how long the movie is. In 138 minutes Yates managed to get the general idea and mood across while adding his own style. You always felt the plot was moving; there were no side stories to slow it down. Everything fit in place, everything worked. Plus the DVD will include deleted scenes, making non-fans of this movie hopefully happier.
It's only natural that a new director brings something different to the HP series. One surreal thing Yates brought across is right at the beginning. Harry walking through the grass, then sitting on the swing in the playground - who knew how closely linked the muggle and wizard world are? You also felt that Harry was very alone, isolated. I applaud Yates for visually and musically conveying that message for the first time in the HP series. The relationship between Sirius and Harry was genuine, natural, and well built, making Sirius's death scene powerful and sad.
The people I saw Order of the Phoenix with were complaining that there was "not enough action." Furthermore, they said the action scenes themselves were too short. I mean, COME ON. After Goblet of Fire, everyone thinks there has to be a lot of action and plot twists. If anyone has read the book, Order of the Phoenix is not action filled. It builds up the tension and frustration until the end at the Ministry of Magic. That's exactly what the movie did. There was the dementor fight at the beginning to get the film started with a bang, then you can literally feel the tension mount throughout the film. The battle at the Ministry is amazing. You have to look at what they did instead of what they didn't do to appreciate this battle. And what Yates did in that amount of time is brilliant and exciting. Everything explodes at the end, basically. Especially the Voldemort and Dumbledore duel and the possession scene, which really made my day at the theater.
Daniel Radcliffe has proved himself a worthy actor in Order of the Phoenix (especially in the possession scene). Emma Watson and Rupert Grint actually seem like real people with feelings and a history behind them. Evanna Lynch was great as Luna. And as for all the adult actors (Gary Oldman, Jason Isaacs, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, to name a few), they did an amazing job. The music and special effects were top-notch. You can't really ask for more, can you?