My review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is going to be broken up into two sections. The first section for people who haven’t seen the film and second is for people that have seen it.

Rating: *** (out of four)

For those who haven’t seen it:

I haven’t read the books and in general I haven’t been that impressed or interested with the previous Harry Potter movies. This one however did interest me quite a bit. I did go into the movie expecting a big war between good and evil so I was disappointed when there wasn’t a massive battle but looking back on it, the film was well done. I had a long talk with one of my brother's friends about the movie and the series and I said that I had a hard time getting involved in the story since there was more of a focus on the magic element and not on the characters themselves and he agreed and said that if he had just seen the movies he wouldn't be that interested in the series. However, I did think that this one developed characters quite a bit in ways that interested me. I also think that the time to have developed the characters more was in the previous movies.

A lot of fans of the book seem to be disappointed with scenes that were left out or shortened and I researched many reviews to see exactly what those were. In general I think that it was a good decision that those scenes were left out because they would have thrown off the pacing and tone of the movie. Also I didn’t think they were terribly important.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie and I want to see it again. The last half hour or so was especially thrilling and interesting. This movie has finally done for me what the previous movies failed at, and that is getting me excited in the series. The internal struggles that Harry has to deal with was interesting and this movie had some great personalities. Also the visual effects were terrific and really added to the story. There were certainly parts where I had to stand up and stretch out but I think it is worth the watch if nothing else for the ending.


For those that have seen it:

Here is a clip from a review I found where the author details parts that were left out of the movie from the book:

“Many of the subplots from the book are given fleeting measure — most notably the budding romance between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, as well as that between Harry and Cho, with young Ginny Weasley's growing jealously also noted — as well as the backstory of classmate Neville Longbottom.

But so much as been truncated or omitted entirely, most notably Ron's growth as a Quidditch p_layer_ (which, honestly, thematically, is unnecessary for the film) and, more importantly, the discovery that Harry Potter's revered father, James, was not the great man Harry thought he was. Through his connection with Professor Snape, Harry learns that his father was an arrogant and merciless bully.

One of the biggest losses is Harry's angry confrontation with Dumbledore at the end of the book. This has been extremely cut, with Harry's anger nearly totally dissipated.”
review source

Honestly though, with that stuff that was omitted or truncated, I really don't care about it at all. I don't see what the big deal is. I completely disagree with the comment in there about how all of this stuff was left out about Harry's father. I thought the movie made it quite clear and what purpose would there have been to expand on that then? I'm really happy with the way it was portrayed in the movie and how it was worked in the way it was instead of forced. That is good storytelling. Someone on RottenTomatoes made this quote in a review "Long on time, short on internal struggle." Maybe I was watching a different movie but I thought just about the entire movie was about Harry's internal struggle. I think that Rotten Tomatoes rating was unfair and the more I think about it the more I want to see the movie again. Also I'm interested in that creepy blond chick who saw her mother die. I just get the feeling that she is going to become a powerful p_layer_ because you know the creepy ones always have something up their sleeve and there is more to them than what is on the surface. Then again I could be wrong and she could get peaced and considered one of those expendable characters, but I sure hope not.

The visuals in this movie were amazing. The scene where the twin brothers come in and disrupt the test was one of the most visual and emotionally satisfying scenes I’ve had in a film experience. I loved when the Order of The Phoenix rushes in at the end and you actually see the white energy battling with the dark energy as they soar through the air. That battle with Dumbledore against Voldemort was so awesome. I only wish that it was longer. My favorite was when Voldemort smashed all of that glass and sent it at Dumbledore and Dumbledore put up the shield which melted the glass and turned it to sand. Also when the kids were in the Hall of Mystery or whatever it was and they had to fight off Voldemort’s minions was suspenseful and so cool to watch. And that opening scene with the menacing storm clouds was fantastic. One of my favorite movie visuals and it added so much suspense to the film because how do you run from the sky? I hope the director for this one stays on for the next ones because I think he did a great job. He directed the previous movie too The Goblet of Fire which I thought had some great visuals as well.

The storytelling was great for the most part too. The actors did a fantastic job and I found Harry Potter’s character in general much more interesting in this film. A lot more of depth is given about him and his internal struggles. Also I really appreciated his rise as a leader among the kids. The lady who takes over the school too did a great job and made it really easy to hate her but also she seemed completely believable. And Snape as always is very well played. I think Dumbledore is much more interesting in this one as well and a lot more of his character is revealed and developed.

I hope you have enjoyed my review and please feel free to add any of your own comments. Take care.
-mike