Harry Potter: First review
Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung in Order of the Phoenix
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Sunday, 08, Jul 2007 12:01
Directed by David Yates, out July 12th in cinemas, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes and Imelda Staunton, 138 minutes.
In a nutshell…
Shock horror! Harry can act.
What's it all about?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film adaptation of JK Rowling's phenomenally-successful literary series. The plot sees 15-year-old Harry once again isolated by the magical community after the Ministry of Magic rejects his claim that Lord Voldemort has returned.
The film takes up this aspect of the book as its central theme, presenting Harry, his school friends and the titular Order of the Phoenix – a secret organisation pledged to opposing Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters – as the only source of reason in an increasingly-delusional wizarding world.
Even Hogwarts is not safe from the government's meddling however, with the sadistic Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) appointed as the school's new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, with students forbidden from learning practical magic and instead forced to content themselves with Ministry-approved text books.
An enraged Harry, who has himself now faced Lord Voldemort four times and survived to tell the tale, takes it upon himself to teach his willing school-friends the magical tricks that could help them to survive a dark-wizard attack.
Who's in it?
Soon-to-be-18 Daniel Radcliffe leads the ensemble cast as the eponymous Harry for the fifth time, a role he has signed on to reprise in the final two films.
Radcliffe's top billing sees co-stars Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Grainger) pushed further into the shadows, while the rest of the teenage wizard cast are reduced to largely cameo roles.
Among the adult actors, stalwarts Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman return as professors Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape, with Michael Gambon back as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, a role vacated by the late Richard Harris after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Gary Oldman also returns as Harry's godfather Sirius Black.
Rent-a-bad-guy Ralph Fiennes similarly reprises his role as Lord 'where has my nose gone?' Voldemort.
The new actors joining the cast are headed by Imelda Staunton, who plays the pink-clad school tyrant Dolores Umbridge, while Helena Bonham-Carter also makes her debut in the series as deranged Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange.
Katie Leung makes her second and probably last appearance in the franchise as Harry's love interest, Cho Chang, and series newcomer Evanna Lynch plays the ethereal Luna Lovegood.
As an example…
Umbridge: "You were told that a certain Dark Wizard is back. This is a lie."
Harry: "It's not a lie! I saw him!"
Harry: "Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more then what we are now. If they can do it, why not us?"
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
The first four films in the franchise have so far between them garnered six Academy award nominations, mostly for special effects, art direction and makeup, so do not be surprised to see a wizard or two at Oscar night.
What the others say
"As the waiting for the final book grows unbearable, there are moments when this otherwise enjoyable film, though nicely made and through no fault of its own, feels like a chore to be got through before the main course." – Times
"Did British director David Yates work any alchemy on the weakest book in the canon? Well, yes and no. The film is less episodic and more dramatic than the book. But it lacks the eccentricity and oddity that enlivened the franchise." – Daily Telegraph
So is it any good?
The main problem for producers of the Harry Potter movies, excluding rapidly-aging child stars, is the miscorrelation between the books and the films. Just nine days after Order of the Phoenix receives its UK premiere, JK Rowling's final book in the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – gets published; with its release largely overshadowing the film itself.
Another problem is the Order of the Phoenix is widely regarded as the weakest of the six books published so far, with the loose plot containing too many red herrings and leaving too many issues unresolved in preparation for the big finales of the coming two books.
So director David Yates has the unenviable task of presiding over what is largely a stopgap in the canon. By and large he has done a steady job, but his film lacks the bewitching, eccentric feel that previous directors have imbued into their efforts.
He is helped largely by a greatly-improved performance from Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, with the 17-year-old building on his breakthrough West End role in Equus to justly takeover the film, leaving Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as barely bit-part actors.
Harry's first kiss, shared with Cho Chang under some conveniently-placed mistletoe, is sensitively handled, but after all the speculation, it takes up a mere seconds of screen-time.
The adult cast is similarly dominated by Imelda Staunton as the merciless Dolores Umbridge, with Yates' film concentrating mainly on the struggle by Harry and co to fight what amounts to Ministry censorship.
This allows the film to revel in the Soviet-style images of a 24ft long poster of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the ministry's headquarters while Harry is whisked away to appear before a kangaroo court in the bowels of the black tile-clad building.
Of course Yates cannot be blamed for the book's weak plot, but his focus on the actors and their relationships largely backfires, as Harry Potter fans will be disappointed with the strangely un-magical world of Hogwarts on the screen.
The film is not without its strengths, however. The fencing-inspired wand duels are recreated in by far the best way the series has managed so far, while Yates' handling of the climactic scene in the Ministry of Magic is far tighter than JK Rowling's loose prose.
However good or bad reviews for the film are, Harry Potter fans will have already made plans to see Order of the Phoenix, but producers should not be surprised if cinema takings evaporate on July 21st.
6/10
Matthew Champion