HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX 1/2 (First Viewing)
After returning to Hogwarts to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter discovers that much of the wizarding world, including the Ministry of Magic, is in denial about Lord Voldemort's return. The Order of the Phoenix, a group sworn against Voldemort, is using its vast array of wizards and witches magical abilities to combat Voldemort. Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, suspects that Dumbledore is using these claims of The Dark Lord's return as a means to over-throw Fudge as Minister. In retaliation, a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is appointed by the Ministry in order to keep an eye on Hogwarts. This new teacher, Professor Umbridge, implies strict new teachings and rules, forcing a group of students, under the tutelage of Harry, to form a club, by the name of Dumbledore's Army.
A better adaptation of the book than GOBLET OF FIRE. Unfortunately, it seems Warner Bros. is going to continue to handcuff the franchise but putting a ceiling on how long the films can be. I'd settle for extended versions a la THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, but haven't heard anything about that. The darkest film of the series thus far and I'm glad. Harry's growing up and things are becoming more serious. I think the first 2 films could get away with being warm, fuzzy and family friendly, but as the ratings for GOBLET and now PHOENIX show, things are getting more intense with a bump in the ratings from PG to PG-13. Hopefully THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE can continue the momentum, not to mention it's my favorite book of the series thus far.
I don't know how I would live with myslef if I saw a Harry Potter movie.
In all fairness, the movies aren't horrible. The first 3 are very close to the books because the books aren't that long and the movies are, so they can incorporate so much. However, GOBLET and PHOENIX both should have either A) split the film into 2 volumes B) allowed each movie to have a runtime of at least 3 hours or C) release extended DVD versions. So far, none of these have come to pass and as such, the last 2 movies have been butchered. However, I thought PHOENIX was a better adaptation than GOBLET. If you enjoy the books, stick with them! However, view the movies at least once and try to enjoy them as much as possible. I favor the books as well but the movies are something special too
