Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has the curious distinction of being one of my favorite Harry Potter films based on my least favorite of the Harry Potter novels. Much of this has to do with how the novel was adapted as well as the performance of Daniel Radcliffe in this film.
The fifth film picks up with Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe) still coping with the death of Cedric Diggory and the resurrection of Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes). After warding off a surprise attack by two dementors, Harry receives notice that he is expelled from Hogwarts for performing underage magic outside of school. However, after some quick intervention from Dumbledore (played by Michael Gambon), Harry is able to return to school. There he discovers that Delores Umbridge (played by Imelda Staunton) has been appointed to the post of Defense of the Dark Arts teacher. A former Ministry of Magic employee, she continuously talks down Harry's warnings that Voldemort's returning while also undermining the curriculum of the class with a focus on giving the students the knowledge needed to pass standardized tests with no practical learning know-how (boy, does that sound familiar). She also begins to use her Ministry connections to wrestle control of the school, leading many of the students to seek out Harry to teach them some of the practical defense spells that they are not learning in class. Meanwhile, Harry also discovers he has a growing mental link with Voldemort, leading him to another inevitable confrontation with the Dark Lord.
David Yates takes the directorial reins with this film and would continue with the remainder of the series. He does a decent job adapting the source novel with Michael Goldenberg as screenwriter. They keep the story focused well, drawing out the significant plot threads and developing them well within the medium of film. There were whole sections in the book where Harry was frankly being a bit of a pill that gave me a headache as a reader and it was nice to see that was largely dropped in favor of a focus on Harry and Umbridge butting heads and Harry teaching the other students defensive spells he knew in secret. Nicholas Hooper picked up scoring duties on this outing and did a fantastic job creating new themes for this entry with very little reliance on the classic Potter themes, even leaving me thinking I should download the score at the end of the film. Even though I am a film score aficionado, its not every day that I think that.
The acting is strong as always with this outing. Daniel Radcliffe stretches himself a bit more with the tormented Harry, but also finds some purpose in the new role of teacher to his fellow students and blossoms in the role, even taking on some characteristics of a teacher he admired, Remus Lupin (played by David Thewlis), which was apparently Radcliffe's idea. Then there is Imelda Staunton, giving life to without question the most hated person in the entire Harry Potter series with Delores Unbridge. Constantly clad in pink, she asserts her power over the entire school while her approach to teaching simply for students to pass tests and nothing more is nauseatingly ill-equipped. Fred and George Weasley's final revenge on her remains one of the series' high points.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a turning point in the series. It was the first one directed by David Yates, who would remain the director for the remainder of the series. The series also continues to grow darker as it moves forward ever more towards it's inevitable conclusion and the film handled that transition well, while also working in a bit of humor. It's interesting that one of my favorite Potter films would be based on my least favorite of the books though. I wasn't expecting that, to be honest.
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