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HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER
OF THE PHOENIX
(***½) |
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Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
Directed by: David Yates
Written by: Michael Goldenberg, Adapted from from novel: "Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint,
Running time: 138 minutes
Released: 07/11/07
Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. |
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"No other franchise
in movie history -- from "James Bond" to "Star Wars" --
has managed to retain its inspiration so well after this
many episodes."
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Coming as it does in the middle of a
so-far extremely disappointing Hollywood summer of blockbuster
sequels (from "Spider-Man 3" to "Ocean's 13"), the fifth Harry
Potter movie -- "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" -- seems
like an oasis in the desert.
Once again, the series has produced a winner: an intriguingly
complex, visually dazzling, multilayered fantasy-adventure of the
first order. Addicts of the J. K. Rowling books will eat it up and
even non-fans will find it engrossing and entertaining.
In fact, the quality control Warner Bros. has been able to retain
over this blue-chip cycle remains without precedent. No other
franchise in movie history -- from "James Bond" to "Star Wars" --
has managed to retain its inspiration so well after this many
episodes.
Yet, as good as it is in so many ways, there's no getting around the
fact that this briefest Harry (14 minutes shorter than Part I, 23
minutes shorter than II) and first directed by an unknown filmmaker
(David Yates) may be the least substantial of the bunch. Unlike its
predecessors, it doesn't stand alone, or leave us with a huge sense
of narrative satisfaction. The whole movie is a setup for an epic
battle that doesn't come, and so little new ground is broken that it
often feels like a remake. It's a measure of the filmmakers' skill
-- and Rowling's storytelling verve -- that we don't really notice
until the smoke clears and the lights come on that very little has
happened that advances Harry's mythic odyssey in a significant way.
The story finds the boy wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) recovering from
the trauma of Part IV, suffering strange psychological visions and
plagued by the fact that the leaders of the Ministry of Magic do not
believe his story, or that the Dark Lord has returned.
Indeed, in line with this strange policy of denial, they've
installed Hogwarts with a new Defense Against the Dark Arts
instructor (Imelda Staunton) whose goal seems to be to teach the new
generation of wizards nothing useful, thus softening them up for
Voldemort's return.
In stages, this unlikely villainess -- who dresses in pink and acts
like a caricature of a proper English lady of the '50s -- seizes
control of the school from Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and
turns the place into a nightmare of academic repression. Someone had
to rebel and that duty gradually falls to Harry, who finds a way to
secretly mobilize his fellow students and a special sanctuary to
train them in the defensive skills they'll be needing for a showdown
with the gathering forces of evil.
Meanwhile, Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is out to acquire a vital
prophecy, while the Order of the Phoenix (Harry's adult supporters)
is out to stop him and there are subplots galore: everything from a
Shrek-like giant for comedy relief to a mass escape from Azkaban
Prison.
It's a lot of activity for the shortest chapter of the series and
new director Yates (whose background is in British TV) is adept at
squeezing what was some 780 pages of novel into the leanest of the
movie adaptations. The film shines: the dialogue is witty and
acerbic; the visual effects are imaginative and always serve the
story line; and the production values are so immaculate -- and the
attention-to-detail so thorough -- that "Harry V" is thrilling on
the level of the sheer cinema craftsmanship.
The script also is not a bit afraid to be demanding, and assumes a
degree of intelligence in its audience that is frankly amazing for a
child-driven phenomenon in an era when Hollywood is increasingly
dumbing down its stories to appeal to the lowest common denominator
of the global market.
As usual, one of the film's chief pleasures is the showcase it
offers to its ensemble of distinguished supporting actors: a virtual
who's who of the British theater (Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Emma
Thompson, etc.) to which the uniquely dastardly Staunton makes a
delightful addition.
And, of course, the movie also offers us the privilege of checking
in with our old friends, the three principals (Radcliffe, Emma
Watson and Rupert Grint), who seem to have overcome the teenage
awkwardness and hormonal surges that engulfed them in Part IV and
emerge here as likable and rather sober young adults.
Rowling's seventh and last Harry Potter novel debuted on July 21st
and the movie press has been full of speculation of how the
disclosure of Harry's fate and the secrets of his journey could kill
the suspense that has sustained the series since its 2001 inception.
That might be, but a foregone conclusion sure didn't hurt "The Lord
of the Rings," and if Harry VI and VII -- due in 2008 and 2010,
respectively -- can sustain their legacy of excellence, this
extraordinary franchise could finish the decade as the purest, and
perhaps even greatest, of all movie cycles. |
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HARRY
POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX ©
2007 Warner Bros. Pictures International
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2007 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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