Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Review

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Order of the Phoenix follows Harry Potter, who must teach a dedicated group of students how to defend against the dark arts after a new teachers bureaucratic methods leave the school unprepared to fight the rising tide of evil. 

The fifth entry into the series, Order of the Phoenix once again marks another turning point for Harry as he must go from student to teacher in the wake of Voldemort’s return. Since their meeting in the graveyard, it has clearly affected Harry and sent him down a darker path as his connection grows with Voldemort. The wizarding world has also changed, turning on both Harry and Dumbledore, a move on Voldemort’s part that places Harry right where he wants him—isolated and alone. And while the new professor Umbridge (arguably more evil than Voldemort) isn’t directly working for the Dark Lord, merely a pawn, it’s her actions that for better or worse bring the students together in rebellion to learn under Harry and prepare for the inevitable war. 

I was pretty impressed with how the movie was able to condense narratively key events, hitting each emotional beat in stride and giving us some huge moments that feel just as exhilarating or gut wrenching as the next, especially in Sirius’ murder and inevitable showdown between arguable the two most powerful wizards there is—Dumbledore and Voldemort, a battle which did not disappoint one bit. 

We get another great cast here, featuring Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Imelda Staunton, Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe. I think it is a real testament to Staunton’s acting in this where she is so insufferable and truly evil that she is worse than the most evil wizard to ever exist. The brief but moving appearances from Oldman and Fiennes were also fantastic as usual, though I’m certainly going to miss Oldman’s Sirius Black. 

Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, directed by David Yates, tackles the events of the book with a dramatic haste, giving us the big moments, but omitting the smaller, tender moments that could have given the film a bit more magic, something it was severely lacking as we only move toward darker territory. 

8.3/10