Film: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5)

Directed by: David Yates

Written by: J.K. Rowling (novel), Michael Goldenberg (screenplay)

Year: 2007

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, Helena Bonham Carter

Reviewed by: The Zombieslayer

When I first heard that David Yates would be directing this, I'll admit, I was pretty upset. David Yates? Who the flying fuck is David Yates?

Well, given it's Harry Potter, I went to go see it immediately, and what do you know? Why the flying fuck did they hire this guy?

Harry Potter returns for his fifth year in Hogwarts. Fudge and the Ministry of Magic is in denial that Voldemort is back, and instead, both the Ministry and the Daily Prophet claim young Potter is bonkers and Dumbledore is trying to scare people for whatever reason. So Potter's popularity goes down, even amongst some of his Griffendor friends.

To make things worse, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Umbridge goes from being a teacher to a little dictator almost immediately, and her quest for Law and Order reminds me of some of today's scary politicians.

I didn't like the opening sequence. I thought none of those kids did a decent job, and Mrs. Figg just looked too normal. As soon as the lame opening sequence ends, Yates immediately brings us into the magical Harry Potter world. This is where the movie gets watchable.

One word of warning - if you didn't read the book, you'd be lost. So many new characters are introduced that play vital roles - especially Umbridge, Luna Lovegood, and Bellatrix Lastrange.

Strengths - Evanna Lynch did a wonderful job as the weird Luna Lovegood. She made great use of the limited time she was on the screen, and Yates may or may not have hinted at romantic chemistry between Lovegood and Potter.

Umbridge was easy to hate, which is a good thing. I hated her in the book, as did you if you read the book.

Helena Bonham Carter had very limited screen time, but in her brief appearances, she perfectly painted Bellatrix as a sociopath. Great job, Carter.

Weaknesses - Weak development of both Ron and Hermoine. Those two are supposedly the #2 and #3 characters, yet they barely did any acting. Nothing against the actors themselves, they just had too few lines.

Personally, I would have had more screen time with Sirius Black, for he was very crucial in the book and had too few appearances in the movie. We didn't see enough development of Sirius and Potter's relationship. And I don't think Yates did a good job at all with the Dursley scene. It was completely worthless, and the only reason to keep the scene is it will make sense in Harry Potter 7.

Sets - Good. Sets are a crucial part to any Harry Potter movie. Besides the flying scene over the Thames, which I thought wasn't too much better than the Superman movies of the 80s, the Warner Brothers created some good Harry Potter sets. The Ministry of Magic was exactly as I envisioned it when I read it.

Overall - A mediocre adaptation. Not even in the same ballpark as Harry Potter 3, and it's a shame he'll be doing HP#6. The best thing he had going for him are the sets and scenery. 5 dead zombies. Still worth watching, because it's Harry Potter. But the worst of the five so far.

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