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HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX 
  Publicity Stills of
"Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix"
© 2007 Warner Bros. Ent
Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.
Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Ent.
All Rights Reserved.



Genre:
Fantasy/Adventure
Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters
RunTime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Rating: PG
Official Website: www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com
Soundtrack: REVIEW OF THE OFFICIAL HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX SOUNDTRACK

Opening Day: 12 July 2007

Synopsis :

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager’s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned. Fearing that Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort’s return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge’s Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

Movie Review:

Boy, how this boy wizard has grown over the years.

Since 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a certain Daniel Radcliffe has grown from a doe-eyed boy wonder to a puberty-charged teenager brimming with angst. In this fifth movie of the popular franchise, we see Harry Potter facing his darkest adventure yet, with the Ministry of Magic (it does remind us of how the state works in the most ridiculously inefficient ways) taking control of Hogwarts, as well as the looming return of Lord Voldemort (come on, no one refers to the nose-less creep as “He Who Shall Not Be Named” anymore!).

We pity the poor chap - all these troubles, and the inescapable experience of adolescence too!

Mr. Potter is not a Hogwarts student for nothing. In the movie’s 138 minutes, watch as the boy wonder find time to go through the awkward stages of teenage years, battle his own inner demons, fall in love, teach classmates magic spells, and most importantly, realize the true value of friendship.

Emma Watson’s Hermione Granger has blossomed into a ravishing beauty, Rupert Grint’s Ron Weasley looks discomfited with his teenage look, James and Oliver Phelps’ Fred and George Weasley are as cheekily adorable as ever, and Evanna Lynch’s new character Luna Lovegood breathes fresh air into the franchise.

But Katie Leung’s Cho Chang still looks somewhat out of place though.

The delightfulness and joy of the previous films is absent in this David Yates-directed movie, but what’s prominent is the dark and somewhat frightening atmosphere that aptly compliments the story. Thanks to the deliberate use of shady and gloomy colors, you’d get a threatening sense of dread throughout the movie.

There are fun montages which will perk you up though – watch out for the scenes where Harry teach his classmates how to cast spells, and we hate to say it, the scenes where the new Defence the Dark Arts professor Dolores Umbridge are in.

In her gaudy shades of pink outfits, veteran actress Imelda Staunton brings a whole new meaning to the term “b**ch”. That irritating chuckle, that irritating fringe, that irritating smug: this is definitely one of the best villain character portrayals in the series ever.

Elsewhere, there are many other fine actors like Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Emma Thompson (Sybil Trelawney), Helena Boham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Brandon Gleeson (“Mad Eye” Moody), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) and David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) who are given too little screen time to enchant us with their fine performances.

That is probably the problem with adapting a 766-page novel into a movie. But there have been little successful cases – so as long as we audiences are still entertained with the jaw-dropping computer-generated special effects, the soaring music score, the engaging and action-packed chase scenes, we’d be still anticipating the sixth and seventh installment of the series.

And we’d be looking forward to how Harry will grow in those years to come.

Movie Rating:



(The enjoyable movie will give you an enthralling time, as well as a peek into how dark and bothered a grown-up boy wizard’s life can be)

Review by John Li

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