HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Action/Drama
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane, Robert Hardy, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch.

Director: David Yates.

NO SWEARING
NO SEX
VIOLENCE

Widely considered to be the weakest book in the seven-part odyssey of boy wizard Harry Potter, it seems somewhat fitting that the film version of The Order Of The Phoenix is, in some respects, the least satisfying installment too.
Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg has trimmed away much of the fat of JK Rowling’s bloated 768-page tome, concentrating on key events and characters.
The focus is on Harry, largely at the expense of peripheral players, including Professors Snape and McGonagall and the demented Bellatrix Lestrange.
Poor Ron is shoved so far into the background he may as well not be in the film at all, save for a couple of crisp one-liners and a perfunctory scene to support his best mate Harry when the rest of Hogwarts is turning against him.
Hermione fares slightly better - she at least gets to accompany Harry on his late night excursion into the Forbidden Forest.
Production values are gloriously high, from Stuart Craig’s production design to Stephanie McMillan’s impeccable set decoration and Jany Temime’s lustrous costumes.
Even Daniel Radcliffe’s pivotal performance as the eponymous wizard, which undermined some of the earlier films, has improved greatly.
He has finally realised that when it comes to acting in front a camera, which picks up every subtle shift of emotion, less is more.
The infamous kiss with Cho Chang is artfully staged, without a single hesitation or nervous clattering of noses; you smooth devil, Harry.
Yet for all of the visual splendour and sterling performances, this fifth film is all gloss and scant emotion.
"There’s a storm coming, Harry. We’d all best be ready," warns Hagrid (Coltrane), as students return for a new term at Hogwarts.
Harry (Radcliffe) and loyal chums Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson) find that news of Harry’s encounter with Voldemort is being roundly dismissed by key figures including sanctimonious Minister For Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Hardy).
When headmaster Dumbledore (Gambon) adds his voice to the ground swell of concerned wizards and witches - "Cornelius, I implore you. The evidence that the dark lord is back in incontrovertible!" - he is ousted from his seat, replaced by Professor Umbridge (Staunton).
She sets in motion a devastating chain of events that changes school life forever.
When the storm that Hagrid predicts finally breaks, students including Neville (Lewis), Luna (Lynch) and Cho (Leung) join forces with Harry’s godfather Sirius Black (Oldman), Remus Lupin (Thewlis) and their kin to face Voldemort (Fiennes) and his dark army.
With the publication of the last book later this month, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix will soar to great heights at the box office, carried along by the unwavering support of the fans.
It’s hard to imagine many of them being completely satisfied.
The climactic death of a central protagonist, the scene which defined the book, is a complete non-event, unfolding in slow motion with only Nicholas Hooper’s non-descript orchestral score to fill the void.
Grief and desolation, which rippled off the page, don’t even tinge the big screen, and for all of Harry’s wailing about his darkening mood - "I just feel angry all of the time. What if I’m becoming a bad person?" - we don’t get a clear sense of his pain or distress.
Fiennes begins to impose himself on the role of chief villain while Staunton is marvellous as the slippery Umbridge, concealing her sadistic streak behind pink frou-frou and a girlish giggle.
Director David Yates orchestrates the myriad elements with assurance but in the absence of any big action sequences until the final showdown at the Ministry of Magic, which takes place largely in the darkness lit only by the glow of the students’ wands, the running time errs towards uncomfortably long.

Now that’s what I call magic.
Rating: 6/10