Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

(This article [my first one!] was published in the July/August 2007 issue of The Ryder)


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) mused "Everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?" Boy, was she right. Gone are the days when Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends (Watson and Rupert Grint as the ever-loyal Ron Weasley) talk about Quidditch or spend time just hanging about the common room working on Snape’s latest essay. Lord Voldemort is back and a war between good and evil is upon us. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is by far the darkest film in the franchise.

Like the first three Harry Potter films, Order of the Phoenix begins with Harry reluctantly spending his summer at the Dursley’s. After a verbal altercation with his cousin Dudley, Harry whips out his wand and the sky goes black (not his fault, by the way), setting the tone for the rest of the film. Subsequent illegal use of underage magic, in front of a Muggle no less, lands Harry in the middle of a hearing at the Ministry of Magic which decides whether or not he will be expelled from Hogwarts. Even though key members of the Ministry, including the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), believe that Harry is lying about Voldemort’s return, a key witness gets Harry off the hook and back into Hogwarts.

After his hearing, Harry is brought to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a Wizarding society that was formed the first time Voldemort tried to come into power, fourteen years prior. Harry’s (late) parents and godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) were founding members and, with Voldemort’s return, remaining members of the Order have once again gathered to try and stop history from repeating itself. Wanting to do his part, Harry claims that he wants to fight with the Order to help defeat Voldemort, but some of the members, mainly Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, think he is too young to be a part of the upcoming war. At fifteen years of age, Harry Potter is too old to be considered a little kid, yet too young to be taken seriously by many of the authority figures who surround him at home and school.

A new school year at Hogwarts means a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Enter throat-clearing, pink-frock-wearing Dolores Umbridge (a perfectly cast Imelda Staunton), an employee of the Ministry of Magic who believes that reading about defense spells is infinitely better than actually practicing them. After all, the Ministry is sure that the Dark Lord hasn’t returned, so there is no need to learn how to protect oneself.

Discontented with the Ministry’s involvement with her education, Hermione breaks free from her "by the books" demeanor she has possessed for the previous four films. Early in the school year, she comes up with a brilliant idea for Harry to teach a small group of students how to use defense spells even though that is breaking one of Umbridge’s numerous school rules she is trying to enforce. Harry agrees to be his peers’ tutor and with his skills, is able to teach his fellow students (including his crush, Cho Chang played by Katie Leung) how to defend themselves in the event that they come across Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

The Wizarding world is chock-full of menacing adults, played by some of the finest British actors today, who take great pleasure in bossing around or tormenting Harry and his friends. Alan Rickman reprises his role as Severus Snape, the former Death Eater and the current moody Potions professor who seems to enjoy his task of breaking into Harry’s most personal thoughts during Occlumency lessons. One of Voldemort’s closest followers, Lucuis Malfoy (Jason Isaacs, whose cool blue eyes are as icy as his character) would gladly harm Harry and his fiends as they prepare to fight at the Ministry of Magic.

A new enemy for the film franchise is Bellatrix Lestrange, cousin of Sirius Black and an escapee from Azkaban where she was prisoner for performing an Unforgivable Curse on Neville Longbottom’s parents fourteen years ago. Lestrange is played by Helena Bonham Carter who takes what little screen time she gets and completely steals every scene she is in with her wide eyes and completely crazed look.

As evil as Umbridge and the Death Eaters seem, no one can compare to the Dark Lord himself. Ralph Fiennes once again embodies Voldemort who is pretty much the epitome of evil. Back with a vengeance, Voldemort is a frightful presence on screen with his ghastly pale skin and the eerie look of terror in his eyes. It is in this film we find out why Voldemort is still out to get Harry Potter, but for those of you who have yet to read the books, I won’t spoil the Prophecy for you.

But for all the evil grown-ups that surround Harry, there are just as many who care about him… they just get less screen time. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is only 138 minutes long, which seems obscenely short when one realizes it has been adapted from an 870 page book. New to the franchise screenwriter Michael Goldenberg kept only the most important plot points from the book. And while reading the books is not a must for enjoying the movies, if you read Order of the Phoenix, you will feel like the movie jumps from plot point to plot point with little (if any) wiggle room in between.

While much from the book had to be left out of the film, it would have been nice to see a bit more of the actual Order of the Phoenix. Nymphadora Tonks is still in the film, yet her part is vastly reduced. It would have been nice to see a bit more of interaction between Sirius and Harry, as well as more Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), the favorite werewolf Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

To make up for lack of interaction with friendly adults in the film, we do get to see more of Harry’s growing relationships within his peer group at school. When Harry first gets to school, he feels alone while he carries a heavy load of emotion on his own shoulders, unwilling to share his burden with even Ron and Hermione. Harry was the one who saw Voldemort return last school year, and a lot of people think he’s completely crazy thanks to a slew of articles in The Daily Prophet. Harry pushes everyone away and goes through a bit of a "I’ve got to take on Voldemort all on my own" phase before he realizes that it is okay to lean on your friends for support. Ron and Hermione, being the trusty sidekicks every movie protagonist needs, stick by Harry’s side even when he does not want them to.

The Harry Potter franchise is improving with each and every film, probably because they aren’t entirely geared toward children anymore. Yes, young adults can identify with Harry and grow up right along with him, but adults too will enjoy the film for the darker aspects of it, as well as a highly entertaining fight sequence. Yes, we finally get to see Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) in action. In an epic battle, Dumbledore and Voldemort face off with flourishes of their wands and fierce looks of determination on their faces. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will leave you wanting more once the credits begin to roll, but lucky for us, the next film is slated to be released next November.