Subscribe to Archivestuff Have your say In the fifth instalment of the school of sorcery series which opens in cinemas today, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is getting older he's a strapping lad of 14 now and accordingly teenage hormones are raging. In line with Harry's increasing inner turmoil, storm clouds are gathering overhead, and the wizard community is in disarray as disinformation is spread about whether the Dark Lord Voldemort has really returned. Even Harry's return to the non- muggle world is not a happy one.
Despite saving his awful cousin, Dudley Dursley, and himself from the soul- sucking Dementors, he is on the verge of being expelled (or is it ex-spelled?) from his beloved Hogwarts. While Harry has been spending a miserable school holiday at the Dursleys', his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), have been sequestered at the hidden HQ of the Order of the Phoenix a secret society of witches that believes Voldemort is again at large.
At the centre of the secret order is Harry's beloved, newfound godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), but Harry has little time with Sirius before it's time for school to begin again. With their warning about Voldemort scoffed at by the Ministry of Magic, Harry and his headmaster, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), are being targeted by the authorities. Soon a dictatorial bureaucrat is ruthlessly seizing power at Hogwarts and making life a misery.
In response, Harry, Hermione and Ron form their own secret society, Dumbledore's Army, to teach themselves defensive spells for the impending return of Voldemort. Meanwhile, Harry has been plagued with disturbing dreams ..
. One of the joys of the Harry Potter series is watching some of the great British thesps of our time duke it out in wizard costumes. Order of the Phoenix is no exception.
In one scene we get to watch the brilliant Imelda Staunton as the cruelly pink and delectably sadistic, cat-loving bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge tell off a whimpering, piteous Emma Thompson (as Prof Trelawney), while Maggie Smith (Prof McGonagall) rushes to her side and Gambon (Prof Dumbledore) arrives to rescue her. The cast reads like a who's who of British acting, with Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, David Thewlis and Richard Griffiths all along for the ride again in minor roles. Helena Bonham Carter appears as the nicely unhinged Azkaban escaper Bellatrix Lestrange, and you just know it's not the last we've seen of her.
And Ralph Fiennes, sans nose as the still rejuvenating Lord Voldemort, is one of the best big screen villains of modern times. He's an incredibly malign presence, even when he's not given much to do but stand around acting incredibly malign. Since Order of the Phoenix is the longest tome in J.
Rowling's series to date, fans will notice there is plenty missing, including the humour. This flick is not for beginners it is practically compulsory to have seen the previous films, as the scriptwriters assume viewers are familiar with the tale (which millions are, of course). As an actor, Radcliffe seems to have grown with the role (literally, too, as a flashback shows), managing to portray an angry young mage with a minimum of sulking.
Harry's much-hyped first kiss with Scottish schoolmate Cho Chang (Katie Leung) is dealt with rather abruptly, but that's more a scripting fault than the actors'. While plenty of the book's detail is compressed or jettisoned, and parts of the film seem disjointed, what we really miss is the magic, which has been banned by the cruel Dolores Umbridge. In turn, the movie seems less obviously enchanting than the last few some would accuse it of being deadly Sirius yet it still manages to be entertaining and action-packed enough to enchant the family for the full 138 minutes.
Yes, Order of the Phoenix is the weakest in the franchise so far, but that's still quite a compliment among a strong fistful of bewitching films. Incidentally, the release of this film is nicely timed to fit in just ahead of the worldwide release of the seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, on July 21.
News RSS