Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the latest adaptation of the mega-popular children series to hit the big screen.

I went to the packed midnight showing early this morning with my grandma – my midnight showing movie buddy. Playing on three screens in the theater, this was the largest audience to show up for the first screening of a movie this year at our theater. Composed mostly of high school age kids – or younger – this was the audience the movie was made for.

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I still believe that what makes these movies so successful are the actors and actresses they cast to bring these characters to life. Each and every one does a fantastic job with their character. The new additions to the Potter universe – Luna Lovegood, Dolores Umbridge, and Bellatrix Lestrange – fit in perfectly with how I imagined them in my mind. They practically steal every scene they appear in. Luna Lovegood, in particular, is hilarious to watch on screen.

While the characters shine, I am a bit let down by the lack of a unique visual style. With the exception of Prisoner of Azkaban, this has been a consistent weakness of all the Potter movies. The style of new Potter director David Yates is serviceable to the story, but after being blown away with the world of Potter presented through the visuals in Azkaban, I suppose I came to expect more from these movies. In a world full of magic and awesome sights I simply expect to be blown away with what I see up on the screen.

Not to say I was completely unimpressed with the visual effects. I would be very interested to see the last 20 minutes of the movie in 3D on the IMAX. Even on a regular screen we a presented with a spectacular battle between Harry and the Order and Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The epic wizarding battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort shows just how awesomely powerful those little wooden wands can be.

The movie felt rushed, even at 2 hours 18 minutes. Movie freak that I am – and Harry Potter fan – I truly believe they should have started breaking each installment, from Goblet of Fire on, into two separate movies, bringing more of the novel story to the screen. Release the first part and then three months later release the second part. It’s win/win, really. The studio makes a ton more money, and we Potter fans get a more realized Harry Potter adventure on screen.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, out now, is playing in nearly every theater and well worth seeing on the big screen. This trip back into the Potter-verse has only made me that much more anxious for the final novel to reach stores July 21, 2007.