5 Question Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Q: Can one enjoy this one without having read the book?

A: I still haven't read any of J.K. Rowling's novels, and I still get confused and frustrated by plot points that are ignored or hinted at in the films. Yet I enjoyed numbers 1, 2, and 4 in the series. I put this fifth installment in the "disappointing" category along with the vastly overrated #3. The storytelling isn't clear, the editing is not always precise, and it just feels incomplete.



Q: So the book readers will really appreciate this, then?

A: Well, not exactly. I talked to trusted sources (OK, my wife and my mom) who are familiar with the novels, and they also felt ambivalent about Order of the Phoenix. They pointed out details not in the screenplay that would have really enriched my awareness of what was going on. But all 3 of us shared a sense that this movie was just biding time until the really good stuff happened next time.



Q: Wait, did you like this one or not? You're still eager for the next?

A: Sure I'm looking forward to number 6. Despite this movie's flaws, I am wrapped up in the lives of Harry and his friends and am anxious to discover what happens to them. However, the fact that my mind never drifted during this movie is more a testament to the cumulative effect of the story than of the directing/adaptation skill of David Yates.



And it's not a bad movie at all. It just doesn't have the standout sequences that previous instalments did, and so that sense of some wheel-spinning is even more pronounced. Nevertheless, the performers are as effective as ever in their roles, and there are enough cool ideas to sustain this version. It's also the shortest, which is welcome in one sense, but might have hurt the adaptation overall.



Q: OK, smarty, what do you want to see happen next time, then?

A: Well, I'll tell you first what I don't want to see: Those interminable scenes with Harry suffering at the hands of his boorish Muggle relatives. The Ministry being as idiotic as it is in this one. "Real-world political parallels." Qudditch (which is thankfully absent in Order of the Phoenix). Dumbledore being mysteriously nonrespsonsive and a nonfactor until the last minute.



What I do want to see: More Snape (my favorite secondary character), some relatively sophisticated magical combat, more answers for questions that have been asked for several films now, characters being proactive, logical explanations for why the adults let the children at Hogwarts be placed at such terrible risk so often.



Q: Well, can you still enjoy these movies given that, in the final novel, _____?

A: Hey, don't spoil it for me! I'm trying to avoid any kind of info on what happens in that book, or the sixth one, for that matter, because I like being surprised as I watch the movies.