Film Reviews	Wands Away, Please: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Mike Schenkel

Gary Oldman and Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

The quick moving, closely edited plot will satisfy fans, but what’s left unexplained may overwhelm newcomers to the Harry Potter saga, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Fortunately for David Heyman, the producer of this film and its predecessor, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there are plenty of fans—many of whom were willing to dress up in full Wizard and Death Eater costumes for the opening night of the film. If you are thinking of dressing up for the film, take warning: theatres may have their own “Defense Against the Dark Arts” initiative going on. At the preview screening, I overheard a young witch getting her handbag searched by security guards who wouldn’t permit her to enter the theater with her wand. “I’m sorry, miss, you’ll need to put that back out in your car.” Really? Yup.

As we join our hero (once again played by Daniel Radcliffe), the wizard authorities have decided that the return of Lord Voldemort (the event ending Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is a fiction invented by the attention seeking Harry and his schoolmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), and want Harry silenced. While Dark dreams continue to bother Harry’s sleep, the Ministry of Magic installs Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) as Hogwarts Inquisitor in an attempt to discredit Dumbledore, and prevent students from becoming endangered by spells meant to defend themselves from the Dark Arts. Umbridge, like the theatre security guards, will not even allow students their magic wands in class.

The story follows struggles in parallel paths. The adult wizards who know of Voldemort’s return are secretly working as “The Order of the Phoenix” to prepare to fight the anticipated spread of dark magic and evil. At the prompting of his friends, Harry forms a Defense Against the Dark Arts club called “Dumbledore’s Army,” to help the young wizards at Hogwarts prepare to fight Dark Magic, in spite of Umbridge’s useless “Ministry Approved” curriculum. Meanwhile, Harry struggles to maintain his self-confidence and overcome his anger as the Ministry of Magic continues to insist that he is a liar, and that nothing is wrong.

The established cast members turn in solid performances. Alan Rickman is on perfect form as Professor Severus Snape. Emma Watson, who plays Harry’s friend Hermione, delivered a seemingly natural performance. New to the story are Luna Lovegood, a quiet student played by Evanna Lynch, and Staunton’s cruelly totalitarian Umbridge. Both actresses fulfilled the characters well, in spite of the deceptively “flat” roles that each character played in the plot of the book. Also debuting to the series is Helena Bonham Carter as Azkaban prisoner Bellatrix Lestrange, a role she plays with evil vigor.

As the loyalty of Harry’s friends’ is tested during their fifth year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a sense of family builds around Harry, Ron and Hermione. The genuineness of the feeling of family was of unexpected depth, with many well-acted scenes providing a foothold for viewers who don’t know enough about Quidditch to notice its conspicuous absence from the film.

Even without wizard sporting events, the film has amazing, seamlessly integrated special effects. Most of the film’s audience will love the grand atmosphere that this installment brings to their beloved main characters’ stories. (This despite the fact that Order of the Phoenix is something of a break from the previous Harry Potter films, using a new screenwriter—Michael Goldenberg, who wrote the 2003 Peter Pan, replacing Steve Kloves—and a non-name value director—David Yates, much respected in Britain for his television work). The rest of us can just try to keep the lengthening list of inexplicable, magical people and items which we are required to recognize in order—a feat that is no problem for thirteen-year-olds, but which may leave the uninitiated feeling lost.