by jaime dusinberre imartsyfartsy@gmail.com
I must not tell lies. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix is well-worth Potter fans’ anticipation. With its release coming just a short week ahead of the final installment of the J.K. Rowling book series, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, hitting shelves on July 21st, the long wait for both a new movie and a new book feels almost bearable. It has, after all, been two years since Harry Potter has graced the silver screen or the bookstore shelves.
With yet another director at the helm, this time the relatively unknown David Yates, one isn’t quite sure what to expect upon arrival, and with good reason. Fans of the series have experienced the steady darkening of the novels and should expect no less of the newest film.
The opening credits leave no doubt that the magical world that Harry and his friends once inhabited is no more, now that “He Who Must Not Be Named” has returned. Instead of playful scenes with the owl post descending on Number 4 Privet Drive, viewers are greeted by a sullen Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) feeling dejected and alone. Sent home alone after the loss of his friend, Cedric Diggory, and now cut off from the magical world for the summer, Harry has had no communication from his friends at Hogwarts.
And if that weren’t enough to make it clear that Voldemort’s return has changed Harry’s world, then the ominous clouds and the Dementor attack on Harry and Dudley (Harry Melling) in the first five minutes definitely gets the job done. Things look bleak following the attack as Harry is expelled for illegal use of magic, but members of the mysterious Order of the Phoenix arrive to rescue Harry. With the familiar faces of Alastor ‘Mad Eye’ Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), and the new faces of Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena) and Kingsley Shacklebolt (George Harris), the magic returns as they race on brooms to the hidden headquarters of the Order.
Harry is welcomed back into the fold with hugs from Mrs. Weasley (Julie Walters) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and warm welcomes from Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), as well as the rest of surrogate family, Mr. Weasley (Mark Williams), Ginny (Bonnie Wright), George (Oliver Phelps) and Fred (James Phelps), all of whom have aged a bit and whose normally bright faces appear strained and concerned. Harry soon finds that while he’s had no communication from his friends, the magical world has been reeling over the purported news that Voldemort has returned. Once again, it’s Harry’s word against all others as the Ministry of Magic and the Minister himself, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), deny the evidence of the Dark Lord’s return.
And so the political strife and corruption begins, which Director David Yates is known for portraying with a realistic edge. Whereas once Harry’s only foe was Lord Voldemort in one incarnation or another, now he faces Voldemort in the flesh, played with snakebite precision by Ralph Fiennes, as well as the Ministry of Magic itself. Not only must he defend himself before the Wizengamot, the high court of the Ministry of Magic, but he must also face the power of the Ministry’s denial every day upon his return to Hogwarts as the evil Dolores Umbridge has been instated as the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor.
Imelda Staunton, whose standard fare is the portrayal of much more unassuming and pleasant characters in British dramas, portrays Dolores Umbridge, whose pink pillbox hats and rosy disposition hide an evil that is unlike anything the students have faced in the protected walls of Hogwarts. Her evil actions both in the classroom and across the campus are justified and supported by the Ministry, introducing the young wizards and witches, as well as the young viewers, to one of the harsh realities of adulthood, injustice.
With Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seeming to avoid him at every turn, Harry finds that he has only his friends to guide him through these troubling times and help him carry the burden of being the marked one. Just as the actors are growing up before the audience’s eyes, so are their relationships, trust and faith in one another. It is ultimately his friends’ faith in him that leads Harry to commit his most daring acts yet, the formation of Dumbledore’s Army, which is outright sedition in the eyes of Professor Umbridge, and a daring rescue mission to the Ministry of Magic.
With new characters on the scene, including Bellatrix Lestrange, played by a frightening Helena Bonham Carter, Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), as well as old favorites returning like Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and the loveable Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane). Also including Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), whom viewers love to hate, Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix provides readers with the details they would expect while offering a plot succinct enough for even a Muggle to follow. David Yates and his crew bring Potter’s world back to life with stunning clarity, providing both the magic, warmth and levity Potter fans have come to expect while introducing them to the new threats and realities that Harry and his friends will face as the series continues.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
