Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review Commentary and Analysis

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(2 votes, AVG: 5 out of 5)

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by Becky Bowden

I have watched all of the Harry Potter movies so far and think that as the series progresses they keep getting better and better. Order of the Phoenix is no exception. This wonderfully dark chapter of the Harry Potter story is actually probably my favourite of the series so far!

The movie begins with an altogether more dark and dramatic feel from the very first scene; from there we follow Harry through yet more troubles as he tries to convince people that ‘He who shall not be named’ has really returned. In his quest to do this we see him face the Ministry of Magic and a new strict school teacher Dolores Umbridge. He also takes on the challenge of becoming a teacher himself forming a secret ‘army’ with his classmates hidden deep within the walls of Hogwarts.

It’s great to see this new authoritative side of Harry and how he uses his skills and judgement to help the rest of the children improve their magic skills and learn how to defend themselves. The whole movie has a distinctive wintery feel to it and is perfect for this time of year if you watch it like we did snuggled in front of the fire.

There is not quite as much focus on the teachers in this episode, we see quite a lot of Alan Rickman’s fantastic Severus Snape and good old Dumbledore of course but the rest kind of take a back seat which is a shame but does give us chance to learn more about Harry and his connection with Lord Voldemort. It also introduces some brilliant new characters including Helena Bonham Carter’s absolutely fabulous character Bellatrix Lestrange (I adore that name) she is one of the escaped convicts from the asylum and her cackling and over the top madness is in typical style of her partner Tim Burton’s creations so I’m guessing she felt right at home in the role!

We get the impression that all of the children are growing up, and learning more about life as the movie progresses, friendship plays a huge part in this, and the strength that Harry’s friends give him proves invaluable. He even manages to get a full on smooch from the lovely Cho Chang! It’s a shame she fades away into the back of the movie slightly after this scene though I thought.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not one of the most exciting movies of the series when it comes to plotlines, but definitely manages to provide a fantastic stepping stone for things to come. It makes you feel as if things are slowly falling into place, and that the things ahead are going to be well worth waiting for. Director David Yates has done a great job of conveying this to the audience and leaving us eagerly anticipating the next movie. I for one can’t wait to see what happens; I’ve not read the books so it will be nice to see where the storyline goes and how the characters develop from here. Exciting stuff!!

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