Get ready to start getting ready for movies 6 and 7, because that is the purpose of Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix.  It’s an exciting preparation that will keep fans happy and eager for more, but if Harry’s first kiss is the most anticipated event in this movie, what MORE are we to expect in the next couple movies?  

Daniel Radcliffe is back as Harry Potter, but our boy wizard now is a troubled teen.  After witnessing Cedric’s death in the last movie, and doing battle with the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), Harry is depressed, haunted by horrible nightmares, and living life as an outcaste after being accused by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), of lying about his altercation with you know who. 

As the official wizard leaders deny Voldemort’s return, Fudge is paranoid and fears Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is plotting to take over as Minister.  To help keep tabs on the headmaster, and do what he must to usurp his authority, Fudge decides to send Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) to Hogwart’s Academy to do the dirty work, and break Harry while she is at it.  Convinced the adults don’t have their act together, Harry, Hermoine (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) take matters into their own hands as they find allies ready and willing to join the cause.

Why is Harry having these painful dreams?  Will Harry’s new army be discovered by those trying to stop them?   

Director David Yates delivers the darkest and most dangerous Harry Potter to date, and makes the most of a story designed to prepare us for the final two movies.  The audience is teased with foreshadowing, clues and other information that starts to wrap up the series and explain what has come before, while giving us some hints at the future.    

Radcliffe puts in his best performance to date as we see the growing complexity in Harry.  He is facing danger and torture far beyond what a young boy should have to (including that first kiss, if that pressure doesn’t kill him nothing can!), but also stepping up to the challenge like the man he could become (again, the kiss).  Radcliffe captures this conflict brilliantly as we sense the dread and fear growing in Harry, but also see his emerging courage, leadership and desire to fight the battle he knows must be fought.  And, he gets to show true emotion in the movie’s big, shocking climax.  

Also, Staunton deserves major kudos for her performance as the delightfully cheery, intimidating force of evil Umbridge becomes in this movie.  Staunton captures the essence of the evil schoolmarm who uses torturous tactics to get students to tow the line, and makes for one best adversaries any of the previous movies have portrayed.  You’d swear she was a Catholic school nun at some point in her life.     

While this is not a pure action film like Transformers, Yates showcases great thrills in the last half hour of Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix as we see the true power of all of our wizards on display in ways we have not seen before.  Plus, writer Michael Goldenberg (based on the novel by JK Rowling) starts to drive home the connections between Harry and Voldemort, the relationships between characters and more about their histories than ever before, which shows us why all of the people have come together by fate, circumstance and choice, and continues to hit on the theme of young people growing up and trying to fight adult battles, even while adults try to protect them from maturity and the inevitability of being men and women before they are ready.       

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix suffers a bit as we don’t quite have one great story or conflict that ties it all together.  Instead, it’s part of a whole we have not seen yet. 

3 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix ransformers is rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. 

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