HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
In Theatres:	July 11, 2007
On DVD:	TBA
Reviewed by:	Louis B.
Official website:	www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com
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At 870 pages, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest of the novels in J.K. Rowling’s series.

At 140 minutes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the shortest of the Warner Bros. film adaptations.

Therein lies the problem.

So much had to be edited that the film feels like a Readers Digest Condensed Version which it essentially is.

The is a film strictly for fans of the books and films.

You cannot possible comprehend or enjoy Phoenix without a thorough knowledge of the mythology and characters.

This is the darkest of the films because it brings us and Harry closer to his inevitable showdown with Lord Voldemort.

The Ministry of Magic refuses to acknowledge that Lord Voldemort has been released and is building an army.

This means they have to completely discredit Harry who has seen him first hand.

They will do everything possible to achieve this end including putting one of their own minions, a trollish school administer named Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) in charge of the magic classes at Hogwarts and eventually the entire school.

Knowing what danger the students face, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron Wesley (Rupert Grint) create a secret resistance force.

Harry teaches the recruits the spells he has learned and they emerge a powerful little army.

There will be a duel between Harry and some of Voldemort’s minions but not the Dark Lord himself because that has to be reserved for a future film.

Much of Phoenix is devoted to Harry’s struggles with authority and his own fears.

He realizes there is a scary connection between himself and Voldemort.

Good heavens is Harry going to learn the same thing as poor Luke Skywalker?

Don’t rule it out.

Radcliffe is up to the acting challenge.

In fact, if nothing else Phoenix proves that Radcliffe has the chops to continue after Harry learns his fate.

The only problem is that at 17, Radcliffe is a mere 5 feet 6 inches tall.

That means Tom Cruise has a good two inches on him.

Most of the other actors in Phoenix have what amounts to walk-on or cameo roles.

Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and Alan Rickman as Severus Snape have the juiciest cameos.

Emma Thompson (Sybil Trelawney), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Katie Leung (Cho Chang) and even Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) are sadly underused.

The production values are excellent but the film really feels more like filler than an actual adventure.

Still, it will have to satisfy fans of the series until the next installment which hopefully will offer more fun and excitement as well as information.