FanUnity B(uzz)log

As a "Harry Potter" moviegoer who prefers to wait for the films and not read the books, I have enjoyed the trend of the movies toward a higher stakes tone.  "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" officially sealed the series to me as no longer for little kids when it killed off one of the little warlocks.  "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix" continues the maturing trend of the storyline in a satisfying manner.

In the aftermath of Lord Voldemort's return and the murder of Cedric Diggory, not everyone believes Harry Potter's story.  Some think he may have even killed Cedric and is covering it up by scaring people with tales of the return of He Who Shall Not Be Named.  Many want to believe that Harry's a liar and a killer so that they don't have to deal with what is coming in the future.  One of these includes the Harry Potter world's own William Randolph Hearst, who uses his newspapers to slander Potter and Dumbledore.  Cornelius Fudge, the Hearst-like figure who also holds the title of Minister of Magic, goes so far as to bring Potter to trial for uses magic inappropriately in front of muggles even though not doing so would have meant the death of both Harry and his tubby cousin Dudley.

Fudge deploys his henchwoman Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) at Hogwarts as the new defense against the dark arts teacher and her methods quickly grate on Potter and his fellow classmates.  Her style is that of a psychotic combination of Mary Kay lady and cat hag.  She constantly wears pink outfits that only Jackie O would be able to pull off and her offices walls are adorned with magical plates that all have cats on them.  She is a firm beliver in corporal punishment and enforces Fudge's will with fervor.  In short, she's bat-shit crazy.

With Umbridge refusing to teach the kids at Hogwarts anything useful in terms of defense against evil magic and many of his classmates believing Harry that Voldemort is back, a group of students turn to Harry to further their education so they can be useful soldiers in Dumbledore's army when the fight against Voldemort reaches epic proportions.

With all of the infighting at Hogwarts going on, the dark forces continue to move forward with their plans.  Harry and his pals get drawn into a wizard versus wizard battle royale against Voldemort henchmen led by Lucius Malfoy and guest starring Helena Bonham Carter is a role that I can only describe as a goth version of Darth Maul (she shows up, fights and makes some crazy noises).  My only problem with "The Order Of The Phoenix" is this sequence because the wizard vs. wizard fighting comes off as rather lame on screen.  I bet it reads a lot better but essentially what you have is a bunch of people pointing wands at each other with special effects making the rest happen.  It doesn't hold up versus other film's action sequences involving sword/lightsaber fights and general hand-to-hand combat ass kicking.

All in all, "The Order Of The Phoenix" moves the story along nicely and if I had the opportunity to walk into a screening of "The Half Blood Prince" right afterward I definitely would have.  It's almost enough to make me want to read the books to find out what happens next.  Almost.

4/5 Stars.