I thought that the movie version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was okay – nothing spectacular. Not too bad, not an award-winning film, but certainly not a bad movie by any means. There was so much more in the book in terms of details, yet the movies provide a great visuals for future readings (but of course, there is only one book left to read so it doesn’t really matter any more, huh?). The ending fight scene in this movie is very well done as is the part played by Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge.

For those of you that don’t know, Umbridge is a snobby, giggly bureaucrat who comes in and takes over the magical Hogwart’s Academy. This is a role that you’ve got to have real talent to play because the character needs to conform to a variety of descriptions, which Staunton does well.

Severus Snape is also played brilliantly again by Alan Rickman as is Albus Dumbledore by Michael Gambon. Of course, Daniel Radcliffe was great as Harry Potter (and thank God he was fully clothed throughout the entire movie). The rest of the teenagers in the cast also performed well. There is a certain manner of their performance that is very “regular.”

By that I mean that you can watch one Harry Potter movie and then watch the next and feel as though there is very little break in the character developments, which is great. This is something that the novels accomplish by simply repeating a ton of information (J. K. Rowling isn’t writing hundreds upon hundreds of pages with 100% brand new material, folks – maybe 80% new at best). Anyway, it’s nice to have a smooth character development with the characters in the movies.

That being said, the Potter movies are facing a big problem in the coming years – namely that these “kids” are all hitting and completing puberty! There’s something about having young children begin these movie roles and then having grown-ups in the final movies that doesn’t quite jive with the books. I mean Radcliffe (who turns 18 next week) has already performed NAKED on the stage in London! Seems sort of weird that he’s playing a teenage wizard of 15 or 16 years old and then he’s naked next to a horse in between movies. Blech!

So here’s hoping that the movies continue to come out quickly for obvious reasons. As for The Order of the Phoenix, I don’t think you need to go out and see this one in the theater unless you’ve got little buggers who won’t stop screaming until you take them to see it! This is probably a good movie for a movie night at the house or a bored afternoon DVD rental. Good performances by all, though.

The only thing that this film is good for is to put faces with names. Other than the obvious lack of including all, most, or even a majority of the storyline features from the book, there is no contiguous logic in the story. It’s like watching a bunch of scenes from what could have been a much, MUCH longer movie. It’s disjointed and there are not enough explanations in the two and a half hours that the thing tarries on for.

I will say that the special effects and wardrobe are done very well. So was the casting and make-up. Warner Brothers does do a good job of giving you a look at what Hogwarts and the characters would probably look like in real life.

But in terms of telling a story, this movie sucked. If you’re a non-Harry Potter fan, then I would suggest not using this film as a basis to judge whether or not you’d like the series.

This book, though, also brings more darkness into the series. As GGL would say, this is the darkest of the Harry Potter books (so far). From the twisted scene of the Longbottoms in St. Mungo’s to the fierce battle between the Order and the Death Eaters, this book at least has some gusto in terms of mixing it up a bit.

I can understand, for cinematic reasons, the need to include the Cho/Harry love spat. Yet, I sometimes think that these parts of the book get in the way of what could be a great story. Quite frankly, no one gives a hoot if Cho is mental because of Cedric dying and Harry is a real “git” when it comes to the ladies. But once again, I read this from a 25 year-old perspective when the general age group of Harry Potter readers is 10 years my younger, so this may be a moot point.

The length of the book is certainly something to consider when getting ready to read it. I came home for Thanksgiving with just a few things and this book was one of them. When I got home, I was less than halfway done with the book, yet last night (after dinner), I had so much free time that I actually finished the book. This is something to keep in mind – you need long, unused expanses of time to get a good reading session in with this book!

What else can I say about this book? It’s nice to get a view of Harry and Snape needing to work together, though I wonder how this will come across in the movie version of the story. Also, it was nice that we got the background on Sirius’ family and his relation to pretty much all of the “bad guys” since he comes from a family of dark wizards. Interesting stuff.

I thought the prophecy part at the end of the book left something to be desired. One has to die, right? Well, duh! Dumbledore’s speech was pretty good in terms of explaining a lot of the finer points of the previous 850+ pages!

For Harry Potter fans, I obviously have to recommend the book so you can continue reading the story. But in terms of storytelling, it seemed at times that Rowling wrote parts of the book so they would be good for a video game, parts that would be good for a movie, and parts that were too Da Vinci Code-esque. Yet, whenever I criticize her too much, I always remember two things. First, she’s writing for preteens and teenagers (though her original audience is now in their twenties). Second, the Harry Potter series is her first go-around with writing professionally in terms of mass publication. The exaggerations and over use of trickery are to be expected in what is essentially a novice’s writing.

All in all a decent book that advanced some storylines and moved the story forward.