Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, Imelda Staunton, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Katie Leung, Evanna Lynch

Director: David Yates

Time: 138 mins

Viewed: AMC Kips Bay, New York

Harry Potter's (Radcliffe) darkest adventure so far gives him an adversary almost as loathed as Voldemort and his Deatheaters: Dolores Jane Umbridge (Staunton), the hellish teacher we all once dreaded. With few believing his story that the Dark Lord who must-not-be-named has returned, Harry forms a secret army of classmates (including best friends Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson), newcomer Luna Lovegood (Lynch) and his crush Cho Chang (Leung)) to defend themselves against the threat. Slick adaptation of fifth book in the series does an excellent job condensing over 800 pages of prose down into less than two and a half hours of film, with most of the major plot elements retained. However, the story in Order Of The Phoenix is the weakest in Rowling's ouevre, and this plagues the film somewhat, as it's really much ado about nothing. Indeed, given the title, there is precious little about the Order Of The Phoenix. Still, I'll give points for making the book seem less bloated than it is.

(c) Joe Wong (11 July 2007)