Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) by Stephen Z — 05 Aug 2014

"The Order of the Phoenix" is the longest book in the series, but the film is the shortest. Much like "The Goblet of Fire", a lot of material was cut from "The Order of the Phoenix" film. But unlike "The Goblet of Fire", "The Order of the Phoenix" keeps to the time limit without leaving out any major details or changing the plot. While a lot is left out of this film, it's all the fun magical stuff that would have diminished this film's dark tone. And it is this dark tone that really makes the film.

The fact that this film is dark and gritty is largely due to director David Yates. Yates is the best thing to happen to this film series since Chris Columbus. But what Yates brings is completely different from what Columbus brought. While Columbus's films were fun and light, Yates's films bring maturity and a darker tone to the series, while still maintaining some fun. This darkness and maturity is perfect for all of these remaining films, so it is fortunate that Yates helms the ship for the rest of the series.

This film also benefits from some great performances. The entire cast is great, but a few are worth particular mention. Daniel Radcliffe really comes into his own and has matured into the titular role, really delivering the angst and anger that Harry felt in the book. I again love Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. Helena Bonham Carter truly captures the insanity of Bellatrix Lestrange. And then there's Imelda Staunton. You know how I know she is a great actress? Because she makes me absolutely HATE Dolores Umbridge in this film. And that is exactly what the book did as well. In fact, I think Staunton gives the best performance of the film because I absolutely cannot stand Umbridge. She is a character we are meant to despise, and we do (in a good way). Nicely done!

Honestly, "Order of the Phoenix" is one of my least favorite of the Potter books, mostly because of its length. But this film adaption fixes that problem by making it a reasonable length and masterfully taking the story from the page to the screen. It is because this film is such a great adaption that I think it is actually one of my favorites of the film series.