Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007): Movie Review by Christopher Smith

The new Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," is the densest "Potter" yet, but then, on one level, it had to be, didn’t it?

Its sourcebook is the largest of the lot — an 800-plus-page tome — all of which is condensed by newcomers to the series, director David Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, who do their best to pack it all in.

Not that they ever could. At 138 minutes, their film is the series’ briefest, so you can imagine how much needed to be axed from the book in order to make it work onscreen. On the other hand, you also can imagine how much needed to be squeezed into the script in order to tell the tale well.

Sound like a tug of war? We’ve got one here, and the results are mixed.

Yates and Goldenberg had the difficult job of striking a balance between what went into the movie and what didn’t, and because they weren’t always successful in their choices, this is the first "Potter" that doesn’t stand on its own.

It also is the first in which reading the book is recommended before seeing the movie. That isn’t necessarily a plus, particularly since there are millions of "Potter" fans who have enjoyed the series without ever reading a Rowling book just as there are millions of "Lord of the Rings" fans who have done the same without reading any of Tolkien’s books.

Still, there’s no denying that knowledge of the book does allow one to navigate the film’s jumpy story line, even if it does shed too much light on all that was left out.

With the exception of those scenes that foreshadow Lord Voldemort’s inevitable appearance toward the end, which is the movie at its finest, the film focuses on the fallout that occurs when Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) casts a spell that saves him and his bullying cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) from a soul-sucking attack by the Dementors.

Although each would have died had Harry not intervened, Harry nevertheless is expelled from Hogwarts for using magic without approval. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is swift to his defense, which is enough to keep Harry at school, though what ensues for Harry is nevertheless unpleasant for a number of reasons.

First, his classmates are convinced he was lying when he said he fought Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) at the end of the prior school year, and most shun him for it. The Ministry of Magic also believe he’s lying — particularly the chief minister, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), who believes things are getting so out of hand at Hogwarts that he decides to undermine Dumbledore’s authority as headmaster. He ushers in a new administrator, one who plans to crush the idea that Voldemort is lurking about and who decides the best way to get the kids back on track is by ruling them with an iron fist.

That person is Dolores Umbridge, and even though she is sheathed in hot pink, there’s no question that in this movie pink is the new black.

As played with terrific menace by Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake"), Umbridge is a mincing, closed-minded force who is the very worst sort of school administrator. She knows next to nothing about the education she’s there to guide, and so to compensate for her shortcomings, she marches in with ideas that are meant to restrict the students, not to find ways that will allow them to bloom.

She is such a powerhouse in this movie, tearing around with her satisfied little smirk and cutting loose with her wand, repression becomes the heart of this Hogwarts tale, as does the rising up against it.

Since Harry leads that charge, quietly arranging for fellow students to learn the sort of magic that can keep Voldemort at bay, the movie finds its entertaining moments, such as a beautifully conceived broomstick flight across the River Thames or in a noteworthy fireworks display that leaves Umbridge cold. Harry also enjoys his first kiss with Cho Chang (Katie Leung), whose character is sadly underdeveloped, as well as a new friendship with Luna Lovegood (a very good Evanna Lynch), who easily lives up to her name.

And yet in spite of its ability to still cast the screen with wonderment, there’s no denying that this film is the weakest in the fold. With so much unresolved exposition eating away at its core, "Phoenix" becomes that unusual film that feels at once too complex and, at least when it comes to offering a big, satisfying payoff, too narratively slight.

Mirroring the previous four "Potter" films, it features a dizzying onslaught of characters, but this time around, they aren’t fully explored. Instead, too many are shoved to the sidelines, which proves especially true for Harry’s best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), who barely register onscreen.

Following suit in that vein are Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid, Maggie Smith’s Minerva McGonagall, Brendan Gleeson’s Mad-Eye Moody and Emma Thompson’s Sybill Trelawney — all are seriously shortchanged, which is just wrong given the talent involved. Jason Isaacs’ Lucius Malfoy and Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape have a handful of scenes in which they’re allowed to glower convincingly (this time out, audiences glean critical insight into Snape’s dislike for Harry), but neither are given the time they deserve.

And really, for this series, time is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Just after midnight on July 21, the final "Harry Potter" book will arrive in bookstores in great, heaping piles of excitement and dread. Has Rowling crafted a tragedy? Will good conquer evil?

In this present culture of so much evil, that’s the more dire question, and the answer, which likely will be streetside as soon as somebody can dash to a computer, threatens to steal at least some of this film’s thunder.

It will, after all, settle questions this movie is only beginning to pose.

Grade: C+