Rating:

Okay, let’s get the obvious thing out of the way right up front. When you go to see this movie, you must be absolutely certain to pace yourself; if you don’t carefully ration your consumption of that 500 oz. Code Red from the concession stand, you’re going to regret it, and your regret may manifest itself in the form of a violent, Tycho Brahe style explosion. There, that’s done. We can move on to more pertinent things.

Well, well, well. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the previous films (and I was even less impressed with the novels in the series I managed to get through), I declare Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to be a heck of a movie. Where the first four entries in the series made missteps too great for me to ignore, this movie’s footing was rock-solid. I went into the theater with piqued interest, but with hopes not much higher than “maybe I will at least be neutral about it.” I came out of the theater having thoroughly enjoyed myself.

As was the case with the others, this is a pretty lengthy movie. While I felt that films three and four plodded significantly less than had the first two, this picture was a different story altogether. Not once did I peek at my watch or feel the passage of time. From the opening scene to the final reel, the movie rolls along at just the right pace.

But it isn’t just tighter editing and faster storytelling than before that makes this movie succeed. This time out we’re presented with a story that’s genuinely engaging—a story, in fact, that practically defies you to remain uninvested. Gone are the “Hey, Nancy Drew, find the spooky bad guy” plots. Instead, the story is a complex one involving the political structure of the magical world, as well as the political backstabbing that inevitably goes with it. As a result, Order of the Phoenix is less of a standalone movie than the others, in that it doesn’t really have a “here’s the goal, let’s go get it” through line, but it’s a deeper movie that expands the fictional universe of the series and gives the audience’s intelligence far more respect.

All the familiar faces have, of course, returned. While the three major players—Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint)—seem to have taken a step backward from where they were in the last movie in terms of seeming like real people instead of just interchangeable, generic wizards, many of the supporting adults have had their characters enhanced. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) gets to be an action hero and, believe it or not, we even catch a glimpse of the sensitive side of Snape (Alan Rickman)! The most important new character thrown into the mix is Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and the tyrannical, sadistic puppet of the Ministry of Magic, who seeks to undermine everything that makes Hogwarts school so special.

Of course, the film isn’t perfect. A blatantly on-the-nose critique of public school systems seems a little too “real world” and Professor Umbridge’s Jackie Kennedy outfit is an odd choice. Several attempts at goofball, cheap-laugh humor fall flat and aren’t really in keeping with the movie’s overall tone. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is creepy as hell but woefully underused (although I suspect that his here’s-a-taste, there’s-a-taste appearances in this movie and in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are only to prepare you for bigger things to come as the series draws to a close). And, of course, the title Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix really, really made me long for the Order of the General Tso’s Chicken ($7.95, egg roll extra).

But these are minor quibbles. The fast-paced story of intrigue and deception and the wizard-fight action sequences that are, for the first time in the series, truly exciting completely overshadow any trifling flaws. With each new movie the characters and the audience are growing up, and this movie is finally the one that reflects that, eschewing the need to talk down to the kids in the audience and enabling adults to enjoy the ride just as much because of it. No one is more surprised than me, frankly, to hear me say that I thoroughly recommend this picture.

Oh, one last thing before I go! You will be completely justified if each time Lucius Malfoy is on screen you talk like Riff Raff from Rocky Horror or sing a rousing chorus of “On the Road Again” whenever the character of Mr. Filch appears. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to avoid it.

If You Hated This, You Will Also Totally Hate:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Is Dumbledore Gay?
• Pre-Potter Ponderings
• Harry Potter and the Sodomite Teacher
• J.K. Rowling: Sort of a Liar