HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (12A)

By Graham Young on Jul 12, 11 09:25 PM

RELEASED on July 13, 2007, this is the fifth film in the Harry Potter series.

In that respect, this marks the beginning of the second half of the eight films.

It was the first to have a mid-July release, a pattern that was to be followed by two of the other remaining films with only The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 breaking the new mantra by being released in November, 2010.

The Order of the Phoenix is not as highly rated as some of the movies and David Yates is lucky that he got to make three more.

But it did well at the box office where it's currently the 12th highest grossing film worldwide in movie history and third in the Potter cannon after The Philosopher's Stone and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

Click on the link below to read my original review from the Birmingham Mail.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX 3D (12A)
Birmingham Mail, July 13, 2007.
Verdict: ***

SHOCK! Horror! Harry Potter has been expelled from Hogwarts, writes Mail Film Editor Graham Young.

More worryingly for the rest of us, with five of the seven films now completed, the JK Rowling cinethon has hit the 'wall'.

By common consent, the fifth book is the toughest read of all.

So it's no great surprise that this adaptation is now the flattest adventure to date, even if you sensibly opt to see it at Millennium Point's giant IMAX cinema where the final 20 minute climax will be show in 3D.

Under-age Harry has been expelled for using his magic outdoors against two Dementors in an intro which will scare younger viewers.

But, to really rattle Potter's cage, a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor called Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) has been sent by the Ministry of Magic to turn Hogwarts upside down.

Will the best efforts of Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) still be able to keep the evil Lord Voldemart (Ralph Fiennes) at bay?

The 138-minute film feels overlong despite unceremoniously cutting the book down to size.

While eager child readers will wonder where whole chunks of plot have gone, Michael Goldenberg (Contact) has not sufficiently rewritten the remainder to win over their dispassionate guardians.

The Order of the Phoenix sits uncomfortably between a wand and a hard place.

And future omens aren't good, either.

British director David Yates is already in pre-production on The Half-Blood Prince for release on November 21, 2008, yet his blockbuster debut here suggests he's unlikely to develop Spielbergian skills within a year.

Especially when his CV includes The Bill. And a little seen lightweight 1998 period movie called The Tichborne Claimant.

Whatever your age, and whether you've read the books or not, The Order of the Phoenix is unremittingly pedestrian.

There are some weak special effects and the climactic set resembles a giant warehouse for light fittings.

Turning 18 on July 23, the still whiskerless Daniel Radcliffe struggles to impart any emotion into Potter, the character he's grown up with.

Major stars like Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Emma Thompson (Sybil Trelawney), Julie Walters (Mrs Weasley), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), David Hewlis (Remus Lupin), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) also flit in and out with little impact.

The franchise has become like James Bond at his most flabby, yet there's just one real laugh - when Richard Griffiths' Vernon Dursley claims Potter has sent his boy 'yampy'.

Meanwhile, Sutton Coldfield twins James and Oliver Phelps constantly pop up with still more annoyingly-short cameos as Fred and George Weasley.

Good luck to these former Arthur Terry School pupils who've similarly appeared in every film to date, but will they ever be given real substance?

Even Potter's closest allies, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), are frequently sidelined here while all of the youngsters could learn a thing or two about clear diction from Michael Gambon.

Well done to author JK Rowling for getting so many children reading. But on the silver screen, the clock is ticking...

Website: www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com