J.K. Rowling is one of the greatest fictional authors of our time. After all, it isn’t every starving artist who becomes worth more than the Queen of England. It is no surprise then that when this movie came out I had to see it.
The Order of the Phoenix was the first Harry Potter book I hadn’t read. That being said, I loved the movie. I think it was the best Harry Potter movie since Alfonso Cuarón’s Prisoner of Azkaban. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you if it did the book justice. My friend that I saw the movie with and my sister, both of whom read the book, said it was a little disappointing the way the film streamlined and cookie-cut Rowling’s original vision. But having no expectations for the film to live up to, I had a great time.
When two dementors escaped from Azkaban descend upon Harry (Radcliffe) and his bully of a cousin, Dudley, Harry is forced to use magic in order to drive them away. When he gets back to his loving family, the Dursleys, he gets a letter that he has been expelled from Hogwarts for under-agedly using magic in front of a muggle. It is then that the Order of the Phoenix arrives at his doorstep. Mad-Eye Moody tells Harry that he will have a hearing in front of Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry of Magic. Fudge refuses to believe that Lord Voldemort is back, and thinks that Dumbledore is raising an army to replace him as the Minister of Magic, therefore slandering both Harry and Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet.
At Harry’s hearing, Dumbledore defends Harry by bringing in a surprise witness that was watching over Harry and attested to the dementors and the need for the patronus spell. Back at Hogwarts, there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a Miss Dolores Umbridge (Staunton), an extremist from the Ministry. The first day of class, she explains that the course will be purely theoretical, and no wands will be used. This upsets Harry, who fears that no one will be prepared for Voldemort’s growing army. Umbridge assures the students that Voldemort has not returned, and that there is no need to worry. Umbridge begins conducting research on the faculty for the Ministry, harassing the teachers and embarrassing them in front of their students. She has Trelawney fired, but Dumbledore asserts his authority as headmaster and keeps her at Hogwarts. Harry stumbles upon the Room of Requirement, a room in the school that appears only to people who require it. Harry begins teaching his Defense Against the Dark Arts classmates the spells that Umbridge refuses to teach them. Umbridge appoints Filch to figure out where the students are going, and finds the room. She brings the secret meetings and a parchment that reads “Dumpledore’s Army” to the attention of Cornelius Fudge, who places Dumbledore under arrest and appoints Umbridge the headmistress of Hogwarts. As headmistress, she enacts a series of authoritarian decrees that disallow students from doing things like being within eight inches of each other.
Meanwhile, there is a massive escape at Azkaban, and instead of confronting the truth that Voldemort is raising an army, Fudge blames Sirius Black. After Harry’s dream about Mr. Weasley getting bitten by Voldemort’s snake comes true, Harry learns from Dumbledore that his and Voldemort’s minds are connected, and that he can invade Harry’s thoughts, and drive him insane.
The thing I loved most about this movie was the antagonist, Umbridge. To my understanding, she was an ugly, toadlike monster in the book, but I liked her as the overly feminine, pink-coat-wearing, incredibly proper Englishwoman. Her belief in the ends justifying the means, her medieval disciplinary measures, and her “protecting” Hogwarts by lying to the students is all too familiar. But do not fret, the politics of the characters remain within the fictional confines of the story. Another thing I liked was the use of newspaper headlines to fill us in on events that the movie didn’t have time to explore.
Perhaps Michael Goldenberg replacing Steve Kloves as screenwriter was a good thing. Sure, some things may have been left out, but the movie was a fast-paced 138 minutes. The only thing that really went unexplained was the search for a secret weapon suddenly becoming the search for a prophesy?! Not having read the book, I didn’t understand. Another thing was that some characters seemed undeveloped and unnecessary to the plot, which makes me wonder why they were introduced at all. Characters like Tonks, and Kreacher, and Bellatrix Lestrange, though I think Helena Bonham Carter did a terrific job in the role. The only other thing left to comment on is the beautiful, dark, bleak cinematography. The empty shots of the Department of Mysteries, the lonely photography of the park in the rain, the overwhelming shot of Azkaban.
I don’t have many complaints about this movie. The battle scenes were epic, the crowd scenes were claustrophobic, the love scenes were meaningful. This film is a big improvement over its disappointing predecessor, and I recommend seeing it.
