Blog From The Bench

Lean, mean and trimmed of all excess and fat, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix blasts through the most verbose Harry Potter novel in a scant two hours with surprising skill and ease. Like a roller-coaster ride, the speed is fixed and calculated to be exactly correct at all times; never too fast or slow, Phoenix moves at an exhilarating pace, easily making it the most exciting Harry Potter film yet.

Man, was I skeptical about this film. Standing outside at a midnight screening of Phoenix in a heatwave with hundreds of screaming teenagers dressed to the nines in scarves and wands, cloaks and witch hats (seriously) I kept wondering how the longest Harry Potter novel (and arguably the most complex) could be effectively told in a film that had nearly the shortest running time of the lot. Impressively, Phoenix succeeds by brilliantly editing the storytelling down to its most base, trimming all fluff, non-essential dialogue, characters and sequences and focusing on creating an exciting film, pure and simple, while still staying amazingly faithful to the heart of the novel and franchise. In a way, it is less showy, less CGI-laden than its predecessors, except that in reality, this is probably not even close to being true. It just feels that way. Maybe it's the total lack of Qudditch, thank God.

All Harry Potter films thus far are guilty of bloat in some form or another; either visually, spending elaborate time recreating sequences that fail to advance the drama (every Quidditch match) to the lip-service inclusion of sequences and dialogue that please the fans and stay true to the book. It is an inescapable reality that, after every Harry Potter film, fans of the novel inadvertently mumble about the sequences of note that should have, but failed to make it into the final film. Amazingly, Order of the Phoenix feels lean and proper; there isn't a single wasted sequence, bit of dialogue or scene amiss, nor does the film feel like it excluded anything critical or substantial. A lot got dropped on the cutting room floor, no doubt, but with Order of the Phoenix, all pretenses for detail and canon are put aside in the favor of pure excitement and solid movie making.

One thing that helps Order of the Phoenix immeasurably is that for once, a Harry Potter film has a proper villain. (Yeah, yeah, Voldemort. But he doesn't count, because he's never actually there, is he? He only shows up in the last ten minutes of any given film to growl and act menacing.) With the inclusion of Ministry of Magic crony Dolores Umbridge (played masterfully by Imelda Staunton), Harry has an on-screen nemesis to antagonize and inconvenience him and his Scooby Gang of Dumbledore's Army tag-alongs at all times. Staunton relishes the role with an almost Margaret Thatcher-ist glee, relishing her power over Hogwarts like a corrupt czar and turning the school almost overnight into a concentration camp. Her eventual comeuppance is a fantastic thing, and got cheers and applause from the audience.

Purists may be irked by the changes made to the film from the novel, some of them fairly massive—my wife who attended the midnight screening with me kept seething and twitching in her seat, muttering about “canon”, but having a blast all the same. By tweaking story elements, the writers have created a Harry Potter film that easily flows from point A to B, stripping away all back story or cutting sequences altogether unless they specifically contribute to the on-screen excitement. A substantial hunk of the near-800 page novel failed to make the final draft, but for the first time, we have a well-edited Harry Potter film that can stand on its own footing as a darned impressive summer blockbuster. However, there is a downside—anyone unfamiliar with the novels or previous films might suffer at the blistering pace of the film, since almost no time is given to flesh out existing characters or dynamics. No fluff or filler here, boys and girls. Characters like Hermione and Ron, previously stars in the drama, are given more backseat roles in this film to make way for Harry's rampage into maturity and anger about his lot in life, sick of constantly being tortured, blown up and having his friends murdered.

Since the departure of Chris Columbus from the franchise, every subsequent Harry Potter film has had something of a revolving door when it comes to the director's chair. Up to bat here is television director David Yates, who has very few cinematic credits to his name, so his inclusion in the project was something of a wildcard. Lay your fears to rest: the man knows how to create a fantastic film. Yates balances the raw artistic style of Prisoner of Azkaban with the doom and gloom dimness of Goblet of Fire and comes up with a winning compromise, creating arguably the most stylish and impressive-looking Harry Potter film yet. The art direction, costume design and effects are fantastic to behold, gritty and visceral but with surprisingly vibrant colors leaping from the screen. The final battle at the Ministry of Magic is like a Chris Cunningham music video gone awry, with smoke and hand-held cameras and flashes of light and twisting bodies, cumulating into a tumultuous finale that blows the socks off anything the franchise has achieved thus far. It's no surprise that Yates has been signed up to create the next film in the franchise, Half-Blood Prince. One you see Phoenix, you'll be very happy with this decision.

Dazzling and stylish, full of excitement, nail-biting drama, fantastic sight gags and impressive storytelling, Order of the Phoenix it roars through its material with confidence, humor and wit.. Fans may be disappointed to see how much material was changed from the novel, but the film itself succeeds in a way that other Harry Potter films have failed to. By editing the film down to its barest necessities, we get a bloat-free film free of excess and distraction. It may lack subtlety and some character development, but for sheer edge-of-your-seat excitement, Order of the Phoenix is the most satisfying film of the franchise thus far.

Verdict: 90

(Man, I love when you go into a film prepared to hate it, and get your socks handed back to you at the door when you leave.)