Harry Potter is waiting after the events of the last film. He is left in the dark all summer until events make Harry and Dumbledore a target of a smear campaign through the wizard newspaper. The minister for the ministry Of Magic is paranoid and he doesn't want to believe Lord Voldemort (He Who Must Not Be Named) is back. The minister sends Dolores Umbridge to Hogwarts School Of Magic. A campaign to tighten down on the school begins as the threat of Voldemort draws nearer.



The fifth entry in the Harry Potter series moves at a brisk pace. However, it feels like middle chapters in a book where the next movie will determine how good HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX will be. More layers are added to the Harry Potter universe as new characters are introduced and the ministry Of Magic is shown. The tension rises as history begins to repeat itself when Voldemort struck last time. A few things are skimmed over. Hopefully, the deleted scenes on the DVD will show parts of the story and character moments that were cut out. The fifth Harry Potter movie is more plot driven than the others. Plenty of characterization is in abudance (even though a few characters don't have much time spent on them).



The themes in the story do reflect the current world eeriely like you're with us or against us, the loss of freedom as the students' lives are restricted more and more (as an Inquistion squad is formed to rat on supposedly illict activities), and using a person as a scapegoat for crimes he didn't do (Sirius Black being blamed for Voldemort's crimes). A major character does die, but I do wish the effects and the buildup were a little more. As it stands, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX is one of the better summer sequels of 2007. It remains to be seen whether it is a great or just a good sequel depending on how the sixth film is.



this movie review is (c)7-11-2007 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com