Apart from the visibly older cast, who look almost unrecognisably mature compared to the first 4 movie instalments of Harry Potter, there are many elements in Order of the Phoenix that make it obvious that a new director (David Yates) has taken over the wheel.

With a sophisticated setting and characters that invoke much stronger emotions from the audience, Yates differs in such as compared to the previous movies in the Harry Potter series which had an innocent charm, glittered with magical enchantment.

This may not be a bad thing, not only because Yates is slated to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but because fervent Potter fans who have already read the books umpteen times know that the Order of the Phoenix has a totally different mood from that of the first 4 books.

When the annoying Dolores Umbridge replaces beloved Albus Dumbledore as headmaster of Hogwarts, Harry becomes more angst filled. And with the evident comeback of Lord Voldemort and his minions, you can expect to squirm in your seat and have to fight all temptation to stand up and emote freely as the Order of the Phoenix makes you feel for the characters utterly well.

Accio (summoning charm) Spectacular Cast!

Dolores Umbridge, an overbearingly prim and proper authoritarian selected by the Ministry of Magic, smiles too much, lets out high pitched giggles which make you cringe and metes out horrible and unjustified punishments to her students. She’s a character you love to hate, as her qualities are highly irksome. It’s to the credit that Imelda Staunton plays the role of Dolores so unbelievably well that you just want to throw your shoes at her.

Luna Lovegood (aka Loony, for good reason) is an unquestionably odd girl who sprinkles her conversations with amusingly random phrases such as “I’ll go have some pudding” instead of picking up her shoes which she had just found. For a girl used to be a Harry Potter fan, Evanna Lynch is such an outstanding young actress that you’d prefer watching Luna to reading about her.

Quirky Luna doesn’t have many friends but believes in Potter and stands by him even in trying times where newspaper propaganda gets out of hand, accusing Potter and Dumbledore of conspiring to overthrow the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Other starlets include Bellatrix Lestrange, who does not play a huge role, except that she had a hand in killing someone very important, whom I shan’t reveal to not spoil it for you. But the fact that Helena Bonham Carter fits so well into the whole gothic, deranged image was enough to wow the audience despite her having less than 20 mins of screen time. Bonham Carter provided the voice of the titular character in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.

There were so many characters were crammed in that there wasn’t much we saw of familiar characters Madeye Moody, Professor Tonks, Professor Lupin, Professor McGonagald and even Draco Malfoy. The action mainly revolved around the 3 main protagonists and that darned Dolores. Another thing to take note of is the chemistry between Potter and Sirius Black, who was like the father that Potter never had, because each scene that the duo appears in makes you want to go “awww”.

Wingardium Leviosa! (Raising the Audience)

Unfortunately, the final fighting scene between Dumbledore and Voldemort – which had both of them escaping unscathed and Voldemort “possessing” Potter eventually – could have been way better. It seemed almost too easy, especially after Voldemort stopped invading Potter’s mind merely because the boy told him that he pitied him.

Still, there were moments when the audience was moved. The scene in which the Weasley twins gave Dolores a well deserved lesson while the 5th-years were having their OWL (Ordinary Wizardry Level) exams left the entire cinema clapping and cheering while the kissing scene between Potter and Cho Chang stirred up some mixed reactions.

Despite the couple giving a rather passionate and tastefully done kiss, a mixture of screeches and gasps coupled with several screams (of envy perhaps?) was triggered by a clearly audible “Ew!”

Rather amusingly, the reaction lasted for as long as the kissing lasted, which was approximately a good 10 seconds or more.

And the Order of the Phoenix is…?

While true blue fans of the Harry Potter books might not appreciate the Order of the Phoenix as much, considering how much of it was cut, it’s a decent effort for a first- time attempt from Yates and the outstanding new cast members in the Potter series.

Die hard Harry Potter fan Stephanie Png, 19, said, “Although I didn’t really like the Order of the Phoenix, it was definitely better than the 3rd and 4th instalment. Nothing beats the first two movies though!”

Another thing to take note of is the Dementors who have upgraded their scary factor, and are actually rather terrifying as compared to the floating black capes in the previous instalments. In fact, the start of the movie with the Dementors (who suddenly pop out from nowhere) scared UrbanWire enough to make us wonder if the 5th Harry Potter was going to be an all-out horror movie.

4 out of 5 stars

Movie Details:

Opens: July 12

Running Time: 138 minutes

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

Director: David Yates

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Photos courtesy of IMDB.