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Harry Potter review of the Order of the Phoenix

Last night Christine and I went on a double date with our friends Sean and Michelle to see the new Harry Potter movie. We went to Cinetopia in Vancouver, which has a “living room” style theater. I enjoyed the ottomans and oversized chairs and the glass of wine I ordered from our server. The movie looked amazing and the sound was wonderful as well. I digress.

I have not read any of the Potter books, but I have seen all of the movies. Some people are super into the scene, but that doesn’t detract from my cursory level of enjoyment. This movie, like the ones before it, do a great job of continuing the story without feeling formulaic or like they’re stretching for new material.

Pretty consistently Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to break the rules set before them in order to overcome the challenges thrown their way. The Order of the Pheonix is no different. In the Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts is taken over by an infiltrate from the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Umbridge. I totally hated this woman and wanted to smack the @#$% out of her, which is what the movie makers were going for, so nice work on the character development there.

As Dolores slowly dismantles the Hogwarts education program, Harry and some rebellious students form a secret class called Dumbledore’s Army where they learn dark arts defense. It’s a good thing they do it too, because sure enough they face Lord Voldemort and a colossus battle ensues. I want be a spoiler here, but the movie was quite enjoyable.

The one thing I will recommend is that you brush up on your Potter history before seeing this movie. It refers back to things from previous movie that lost me momentarily, although obsessed fans probably found more deeply rewarding.

I give Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix two thumbs up. And I recommend seeing it at Cinetopia if you can. :)