Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I never really liked this story, both in book form and in the movie form. For me, it's the weakest piece, even though "The Half-Blood Prince" is quite decent, mainly because the movie finale there was absolutely disappointing. "The Order of the Phoenix" is just a kind of empty space for me, waiting to see how it actually turns out. (30/12/2014)

Potter literary phenomenon has always gone past me (and probably will continue to) and I take their film adaptations as a parade of pretty pictures and good visual effects to see once, digest pleasantly and forget. However, David Yates succeeds where even Cuarón failed: to fully draw me into the plot and awaken my interest in the fate of the characters. Maybe it's also due to the source material, which thickens from episode to episode towards a slightly horror atmosphere, which is only a good thing. And Stephen King is right, Dolores Umbridge, with her sweet yet sinister smile, is indeed one of the nastiest female villains ever to appear in a film (Nurse Ratched from Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would be jealous) PS: Kids will be probably get bored, there are few cute creatures and vermin, and they won't even get to see the quidditch. :) (31/07/2007)

The best-filmed Harry Potter since Cuarón's The Prisoner of Azkaban. Very few dead spots, the plot is built in such a way that even a complete HP illiterate will soon catch on, the return of Gary Oldman and the ever-improving Radcliffe, who at times shows something akin to charisma. David Yates has a perfect sense of atmosphere and pace of storytelling, and I'm not even sorry that the humor has disappeared. The only bad thing I can say about this series is that each film is essentially about the same thing and the end is nowhere in sight. However, if the magic is given to us with such grace, I have nothing against seeing it three more times. This doesn't change the fact that my nose still slightly wrinkles over the infinite amount of recycled raw materials (of better quality in the original). Potter is good at reading film trends, but doesn't bring anything new. [75%] (12/07/2009)

The Rebellion Begins. Daniel Radcliffe must have matured to the phase of puberty when he is eternally pissed and so he has no trouble of really being Harry this time round. Otherwise it’s hard to imagine that, all of a sudden, he learned to act. David Yates excels primarily in dramatic scenes with a minimum of actors. However, he hasn’t (yet) developed a personal style for action and crowd scenes. But he clearly is enamored with Cuarón’s style and manages to copy it more than just well. And, here and there, he adds ideas of his own. The casting of new characters is done well as usual, but, like the old ones, they get an absolute minimum of room. With the exception of Dolores, where Harry finally meets his match. Plus, Yates managed the almost impossible and manages to change Voldemort from a camp, laughable worm to a character that commands deserved respect. Hats off to the creators that they have broken away from the kids’ movie recipe with special effects meant to entertain the very youngest of kids to a rather more mature version which, despite (or thanks to) not having so many special effects, is all the more effective. Unlike the preceding part which turned into a pastiche of uninspiring illustrations to accompany the book, this time round it proved possible to at least create the illusion that there is a complete story that is headed somewhere. The fifth Harry Potter certainly isn’t flawless. And although at no point is this anywhere near as good as Cuarón’s distinctive adaptation, if you compare it to the rather routine and dull Columbus/Newell-style attempts, this comes out as the winner, hands-down. ♫ OST score: 3/5 (23/07/2007)

I apologize to David Yates that I doubted him. The introduction with the Dementors sets a psychological and dark tone that he doesn’t give up for the rest of the movie. Radcliffe has grown as an actor and even though he has a dumb hairstyle and round glasses, he has charisma. In fact, all of the main trio have improved and are more natural. Emma Watson is growing into a beauty (an Emma Watson poster appeared in my wardrobe out of nowhere, but don’t think I’m some sort of pervert, my sister stuck in on the door :-) and Rupert Grint has all the snappy lines. What most and pleasantly surprised me was the tightness of the storytelling and the overall fluency of action that was lacking in part four. Lots of things were left out, but hey, it doesn’t matter (well, apart from one of my favorite scenes where the main role was played by revitalized brains and a giggling Ron). The special effects are still at a high level even though in places it’s a little creaky, and the action is excellent. The whole final battle at the Ministry of Magic is breathtaking and I am beginning to hope that Yates will launch himself into number six with the same verve. But let Harry’s hair grow a bit :-). (06/08/2007)