Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The best-filmed Harry Potter since Cuarón's The Prisoner of Azkaban. Very few dead spots, the plot is built in such a way that even a complete HP illiterate will soon catch on, the return of Gary Oldman and the ever-improving Radcliffe, who at times shows something akin to charisma. David Yates has a perfect sense of atmosphere and pace of storytelling, and I'm not even sorry that the humor has disappeared. The only bad thing I can say about this series is that each film is essentially about the same thing and the end is nowhere in sight. However, if the magic is given to us with such grace, I have nothing against seeing it three more times. This doesn't change the fact that my nose still slightly wrinkles over the infinite amount of recycled raw materials (of better quality in the original). Potter is good at reading film trends, but doesn't bring anything new. [75%] (12/07/2009)

Along with The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Order of the Phoenix is the best Harry Potter film yet. Actually, if I had to compare, I might like it a bit more - unlike The Prisoner of Azkaban, I can't think of a single thing I could fault it for. From the voluminous book it managed to distil the absolute essentials, i.e. the conflict between Harry and the one-headed pink sleigh of Dolores Umbridge, and in addition to introducing great new characters (those who don’t like Luna Lovegood have no heart, but Tonks was also great), of course not forgetting Voldemort's antics and at the end of the book offering first a great magical shootout and after that an absolutely thrilling duel between Dumbledore and Dark Lord. The best scenes this time take place in the corridors and chambers of Hogwarts Castle. Whether it's the "Umbridge brings order" montage (with an excellent scene with Snape and Ron) or "Harry trains Dumbledore's Army" or the rampage of the Weasley twins, it's all got swing and style, shot with ease, is funny and suspenseful at the right moments, and underscored by excellent music. I think the wizarding saga has fallen into good hands with the arrival of David Yates, though I'd hate to jinx it. (09/09/2015)

“How dare you speak his name?! You filthy half-blood!” –– Well, look. Steve Kloves was told to piss off somewhere, and behold, this is my favorite movie of the entire Potter saga, thanks to which I was finally, after all these long years of waiting for the right Potter movie to get me, immersed one hundred percent into J.K. Rowling’s fantasy world, and was able to award it five stars in good conscience. The previously unknown Mr. David Yates has emphasized the dark atmosphere of the movie, which really literally engulfs you. In addition, as soon as the amazing Dolores Umbridge, played by the incredible Imelda Staunton, starts to cast her spells on the screen and is so nice to everyone around her that she makes you want to throw up and laugh out loud at the same time, you will be surely reminded of at least one former teacher in it (well, I recognized several). I still remember sitting in the last row of the movie theater and my friends and I would sit in suspense every time Filch nailed Umbridge’s decrees to the wall, waiting impatiently for Filch’s ladder to finally fall. I thought the cast were the most likable in this installment so far, even more so when their ranks were perfectly complemented by Evanna Lynch (I just love that “completely out of it” look of hers!), my beloved weirdo Helena Bonham-Carter (as always, absolutely superb) and also Mr. Hooper’s great soundtrack, which, especially in the finale, perfectly underscored the whole atmosphere of the movie. It is just a real shame that the next installments are to be written by that dumbass Kloves again. –– Edit:  So after watching all eight installments of this franchise, I dare to say that this one outshines the others by a very wide country mile, and in fact it is the only installment where I felt the same excitement while watching it as I did while reading Rowling’s books. It is just so totally obvious that a different person was hired to write the screenplay for this movie. (24/06/2008)

I never really liked this story, both in book form and in the movie form. For me, it's the weakest piece, even though "The Half-Blood Prince" is quite decent, mainly because the movie finale there was absolutely disappointing. "The Order of the Phoenix" is just a kind of empty space for me, waiting to see how it actually turns out. (30/12/2014)

People who can reliably distinguish between different directorial styles and the quality of the parts of the Harry Potter saga are a bit of a mystery to me, because Harry Potter is, in my opinion, a typical example of a project that significantly suppresses creative individuality in favor of the desires of the producer and the author of the literary source. All the parts that I have seen so far had a very similar value and only the details were different. My rating ranges somewhere between three and four stars. It is a generously made series with a corresponding budget, special effects, and overall production design, but it never was a film that captured my heart. It's simply a fairytale, behind which stands the worldwide success of the books. However, the fifth part started to tire me and I am leaning towards the opinion of literary critics who accuse Rowling of being pretentious and megalomaniacal. She can, however, console herself that she is still far away from Steel and other book production factories. I would be satisfied with just four parts that would thoroughly describe the story of Harry Potter without any filler or dull moments. Overall impression: 65%. (10/10/2010)