Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) by Hollyc — 11 Jul 2007

I basically agree with Stephanie Zacharek's review from Salon.com. If you haven't read the book, I'm not sure this film will work that well for you. But if you have read it, this is film is pretty good (at least I thought so).

It's successful parts really made up for some of the bad screenwriting/editing (ugh, and some of the choices the screenwriter made were total crap) but I loved Umbridge, Luna and Bellatrix--perfectly cast.

Even little Ginny was pretty prominent in certain scenes (hint hint). Harry's emotional "growing" is still the centerpiece as in the book. Plot-wise, unless you read the book, you'll have no idea what ground was made as they really don't go that far (or show it anyway) & ironically the "Order of the Phoenix" is largely cut out of the film.

The end climax scene in the Ministry is done very well though. I still think PoA might be the better Potter film so far, but OotP is definitely vying for the top.