Harry Potter and the Order

of the Phoenix

Genre: Adventure/ Mystery/ Magical

Director: David Yates

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint

Showing at theatres near you

Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu

A friend once said never judge a book by its movie. So sad but so true. And that’s all one can say about the latest Harry Potter flick, the fifth movie in the seven series. It is not bad technically speaking as director David Yates has tried to condense the longest Potter book by JK Rowling, and has tried to delivered his best in a two-hour movie. It is not a total let down if you are a regular moviegoer, but if you are a big Potter novels fan, then it is a big let down.

All the major characters — Harry, Hermione and Ron — are shown as rebellious and eager teenagers. As Harry enters his fifth year in Hogwarts, he is aware that the murderer of his parents is back. Harry wants to know more about Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) after his encounter with him in the fourth movie. The fifth movie is darker and more thrilling than ever as more dangers surround the wizard world and of course Harry. The balance of good and evil has been shown successfully. It gets more interesting with the arrival of much loved characters like Professor Lupin and Sirius Black. But what excites the viewer more are the new characters — Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) and Luna Lovegood. The sadistic and torturing Umbridge has been well portrayed with her uhm..uhm, all pink attire and creepy charm. The loony Luna does a good job as the eerie and dreamy student of Hogwarts, and now Harry’s friend. The much-hyped kiss between Harry and Cho Chang is neither romantic nor sensitive. It is more dry and boring.

Many details are missing and also the events in book and movie differ, and are done by totally different characters. If you loved Dobby the elf, you are going to miss his idiotic acts of caring for Harry this season. The Ministry of Magic looks as grand as it has been beautifully described in the book. As usual Voldemort comes only in the climax (except for the dreams and flashbacks). The final dual between Voldemort and Dumbledore has been well shot with good effects making it look magical and scary. But Voldemort escapes making us wait for the next movie with the promise that the next movie will be more dark and with more deaths and thrills.

The movie is a good way to pass time this summer with its witty dialogues, good character portrayals and imaginative visual effects.