Movie Review: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Well it’s official. It appears Mrs Rowling has finally run out of ideas; not that they were particularly groundbreaking to begin with. Don’t mistake a negative commentary as evidence of a bias against the series; I quite enjoyed the previous two offerings. I wish I could say the same for the fifth instalment, but in Order if the Phoenix we are presented with very little in terms of new entertainment, plot or character development. Length is not a substitute for quality, and here we have a film that feels like bits and bobs of information have been pasted together in one over-long and self indulgent motion picture.

As is to be expected, the cast of the previous films return for another year at Hogwarts. Daniel Radcliffe returns as the all-too-perfect Harry, Emma Watson as the brains of this amateur Nancy Drew crew and the token in-between man, Ron Weasly, is once again played by Rupert Grint. The Order of the Phoenix itself seems more of a panic-induced last minute title than anything else, the time given to anything remotely resembling the Order or its significance must cover all of two and a half minutes of screen time. Although the previous books and films had some sort of central event to revolve around, this template does not return for this instalment. In fact, we find out two or three nuggets of important information and that pretty much sums up the entire film.

The film begins with everyone at Hogwarts and the ministry of magic believing that Harry is a liar, that he did not see “he who cannot be named.” For a start this seems inexplicable considering Harry’s status and perfect record in absolutely everything. The fact that supposedly intelligent adult wizards and witches are consumed with unqualified denial also adds fuel to the fire that says that Rowling really didn’t have a lot to say here. In short, Harry trains up the students in the art of battle, has a couple of lessons, has a brief rendezvous with Voldemort at the end and learns of a prophecy that he or Voldemort must die. Harry also has his first kiss, but this is his only interaction with Cho in the whole film, they say no more than two or three words to each other.

The acting is at a decent standard here, with the star turn undoubtedly being attributed to Emelda Staunton as the meddling Delores Umbridge. As usual, the adults out-act the youths in every scene, but it isn’t as noticeable as the first two films. Emma Watson has finally played down her seemingly incessant over-acting with a far more balanced performance here, after all this time the jury is still out on Radcliffe, (although his character is remarkably one-dimensional) while Rupert Grint remains the most consistent with his sit-on-the fence style. As usual the seasoned pros such as Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon deliver the performances expected of veterans, despite the unmistakably mundane dialogue that has come to characterise the films.

There is some good in this however. The ministry taking over the school is an intriguing development and I particularly enjoyed the enforced curriculum changes, making magic theory-based. This is a relevant parallel to draw when one considers the similar changes in the educational system in the UK since 1997. Delores Umbridge is a delightfully conniving character, if somewhat unoriginal. But originality is not why we watch the series, surely, or else we would be irritated by the almost genetic similarities of Tolkien’s Gandalf and Rowling’s Dumbledore.

The main problem with this film is that there is no real sustained structure; it is essentially a bridging film. After two and a half more hours, the story has hardly advanced. I’m sure no-one despises Rowling for milking the cash cow, but stretching a battle with Voldemort over three and half books/films is bordering on tedium. By fluke, genuinely interesting story and cut-throat marketing, the Harry Potter franchise has become a phenomenon. But this offering serves as a reminder that beneath all the hype, the formula is becoming extremely repetitive and the characters somewhat ordinary. It is a shame considering the adventurous feel of the last two pictures, but unfortunately here we have an instalment (both cinematically and in literary terms) that only exists because of the brightly lit dollar signs that come with it.

GRADE: C