2008 Woodie Awards
A darker tour of Potter's magical mystery
Film Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Anna Wiegenstein - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 7/16/07 Section: Arts
**** out of *****
Though it may seem pointless to note, normalcy is completely missing from the fifth installment of the Harry Potter films. True, they deal with witchcraft, and werewolves, and whatnot, but even the wizarding status quo is severely disrupted in Order of the Phoenix, the closest the series has come to its own Empire Strikes Back.
The opening sequence proves this. Set in the supposedly average world we unlucky Muggles inhabit, the sun beats down relentlessly as Harry and cousin Dudley face off near a sinister, near-apocalyptic playground. Suddenly - wouldn't you know it? - those pesky Dementors from Prisoner of Azkaban have returned, looming larger and more terrifying than ever. The action gets violently shoved back into the magical world, just as it should be, and barely pauses for breath for the next two hours.
Hogwarts school, Harry's adopted home, is no safer playground - though the evil there comes in the form of buttoned-up, prim-and-proper Ministry of Magic official Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). Don't let the predilection for pink fool you: This lady is perhaps the creepiest villain yet to appear in the Harry Potter films, and Staunton pulls no punches in making her that way. She upholds the tradition of adult actors refusing to condescend to a quote-unquote kids' movie. Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith - all have limited screen time, but make every second count.
Order of the Phoenix, more than ever, has its young actors meeting their elders in talent. Daniel Radcliffe seems to have finally shucked the awkward demeanor that made his screen presence rather uncomfortable in the previous installments. The trio of Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) - still acting a bit too much with her eyebrows but markedly better than before - are more at ease with each other, and their interactions, however short, and prevent the film from seeming too heartless and action-minded.
Though it may seem pointless to note, normalcy is completely missing from the fifth installment of the Harry Potter films. True, they deal with witchcraft, and werewolves, and whatnot, but even the wizarding status quo is severely disrupted in Order of the Phoenix, the closest the series has come to its own Empire Strikes Back.
The opening sequence proves this. Set in the supposedly average world we unlucky Muggles inhabit, the sun beats down relentlessly as Harry and cousin Dudley face off near a sinister, near-apocalyptic playground. Suddenly - wouldn't you know it? - those pesky Dementors from Prisoner of Azkaban have returned, looming larger and more terrifying than ever. The action gets violently shoved back into the magical world, just as it should be, and barely pauses for breath for the next two hours.
Hogwarts school, Harry's adopted home, is no safer playground - though the evil there comes in the form of buttoned-up, prim-and-proper Ministry of Magic official Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). Don't let the predilection for pink fool you: This lady is perhaps the creepiest villain yet to appear in the Harry Potter films, and Staunton pulls no punches in making her that way. She upholds the tradition of adult actors refusing to condescend to a quote-unquote kids' movie. Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith - all have limited screen time, but make every second count.
Order of the Phoenix, more than ever, has its young actors meeting their elders in talent. Daniel Radcliffe seems to have finally shucked the awkward demeanor that made his screen presence rather uncomfortable in the previous installments. The trio of Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) - still acting a bit too much with her eyebrows but markedly better than before - are more at ease with each other, and their interactions, however short, and prevent the film from seeming too heartless and action-minded.
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