Thanks to everyone who sent in their Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix reviews. Please keep sending them in if you wanted to but have not yet. Possible spoilers, so turn away if you need to...

~~~ Possible Spoilers ~~~

Review by Hey-won Kim
Hello. I watched the OotP last night at midnight and it was very VERY good. The only problem I had with the movie was that this was the shortest of the movies, but it was the longest of the books. Therefore they skipped a lot of important things like choosing Ron and Hermione as prefects and having Ron be the Gryffindor quidditch keeper. But all in all, it was a VERY good movie. I enjoyed it a lot. ^^

Review by Eric Bowling:
What happened to the magic? The evocative and atmospheric verve shown by the last four movies is gone to an extend in "Phoenix" - One of my favorite scenes in "Goblet of Fire" were the opening establishing shots- Harry's Nightmare, the Portkey, and the Quidditch World Cup, which, in just a few minutes, are able to establish the world of the movie. Harry enters the Weasley's expanded tent and looks around in awe at everything and says, earnestly, "I love magic." Unfortunately, these kinds of establishing scenes are truncated in order for the movie to keep up its very quick pace. It is this element from which many of the problems come about in "Order of the Phoenix."

David Yates proves to be an effective director, not wanting to give the characters completely over to the world they live in- this is bad in one sense, because the world of Harry Potter is so integral to the story, but is VERY effective in the emotional scenes. The world of “Phoenix” is much darker and starker, which in one way fits the mood of the book.

The opening scene where Dudley and his gang are picking on Harry, the use of close up and quick-cuts really add to the disparateness of the emotional environment that Harry is existing in. This is one example of where the films quickened pace succeeds in building the story and the character of Harry. The movie overall is very dark, and just enough is invested in the Sirius/Harry relationship to make the finale pay off more, as is the Harry/Voldemort duality. Could the movie have benefitted with more and/or longer scenes to fully compose these themes? Yes. Are they good on their own? Yes.

The pace of the movie does have its advantages - many of the complicated plot-lines from the book are either absorbed into other plot-lines or cut altogether. The trigger that sends Harry and company to the Ministry of Magic is made very simple in "Phoenix" (not wanting to spoil anything), greatly benefitting the flow of the story.

The problems with "Phoenix" and its pacing are most apparent in the climactic battle in the Department of Mysteries. Obviously, the entire battle could not be filmed, but the scenes introducing it are so short that the viewer really can't get the ominous atmosphere of the Department that was so palpable in the book. By placing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville directly into the room of prophecy, negating the mysterious environs of the Department - the circular room of doors, which are one of the most ominous scenes in the book - the picture loses the mood that helps to define the space so well. The economy works in that the audience isn't confused by all the rooms that Harry and company fight through in the book, but there isn't much time to set the kind of mood that the DoM had in the book.

The special effects are first-rate all around, as expected. The cinematography, while very different from the other Potter movies, is evocative and is able to quite successfully express the darker mood of the movie.

Evanna Lynch is a revelation as Luna - unfortunately, the quick pace of the movie cut out many of her good scenes and her star only shines a few times. For me, Luna was one of the best characters in the book (besides Hermione, of course!!) and all but stole the show. It's sad that we won't get to see much more of her in "Half-Blood Prince." The same situation also applies to Neville and Ginny, two major characters in the book that comparatively are given punctuated roles in the film. The same fate befalls Tonks, who is wonderfully played by Natalia Tena. The few moments she has are among the best and she is able to embody the character so well that despite her short on-screen time, the audience can easily get an idea of her character and her quirks.

Imelda Staunton is wonderful as Umbridge - I couldn't possibly see anyone else playing this role and she is able to fit her character description in the book version to a tee. Both sweet and poisonous, she is convincingly sweet one moment then turns shockingly cruel the next, and the juxtapositioning that Staunton is able to utilize makes Umbridge a true villain - a character who isn't evil because she has to be, but because she WANTS to be. This last evening, the audience found themselves cheering when she finally got her comeuppance in the Dark Forest.

The emotional scenes throughout are very quick and sometimes don't last long enough to fully bloom into the scenes that they're trying to be. On their own, though, they are effective.

One of the most touching scenes in the movie comes from the Phelps twins - in less than 30 seconds they are able to embody their characters so well that we can understand the real men behind their facades. They go from 2-dimensional tricksters to real, 3-dimensional characters.

Then there's Emma, perhaps the best actress of our generation (next to Natalie Portman) - despite the films brevity and filmic economy, she is still able to shine. Her caring and kindness resonate and she is obviously the glue that keeps the threesome together. Emma is luminous and beautiful and, with Dan, has developed into the emotional touchstone for the series. She brings life and vigor to scenes with even the smallest little facial or physical gesture.

Her scene with Grawp, involving bicycle bells, is the best scene in the whole movie. Using subtle physical gestures, along with her wonderful and very expressive smile, she is able to communicate without words and charms not only Grawp, but us as well. Her little monologue explaining the nature of the relationship between Harry and Cho is the best monologue of the entire movie, mostly because she is able to so easily communicate the feelings of adolescence, love, pain, and loss so believingly.

Emma also shines in being a good friend to Harry, convincing him that he is not alone and that she and Ron are together with him.

Even though "Order of the Phoenix" is missing much of the colors that we have come to love in the Harry Potter movie series, it does use the few primary colors it works with very well.

There are drawbacks to the movie, but I earnestly recommend that any Potter Fan should go and see it. It IS NOT A BAD MOVIE. Just flawed. "Order of the Phoenix" is an incredibly hard book to adapt because of the density of action, ideas, and themes, and this is a good adaptation.

Review by Roy Hobbs:
I saw the movie premier this morning @ mid night .
THe movie lacked what I have come to enjoy most about the Harry Potter stories, and that is the Comradery between Harry and all the original players (Hemine Granger and Ron Weasly , as well as with Hagrath and Dumbledore , etc .) The story line was not as strong as in past stories and the villian new school master was a real bore . If this was the best thing about the movie, I fear it has failed terrible. The movie could have dome much more to show mor eof the original cast members especially the growing up gorgeous young Emma. She is a bueaty and I can wait to see her in more grown up roles , but I hope she finishes the last two Potter movies.
Emma, has been and should be a key to continue the success of these movies and as her role was diminiushed as was most of our lovable returnees, this wont be a favorite of loyal Potter fans.

Review by Stacy Forrest:
I have to say that, in my opinion, this Harry Potter movie was the best yet! The actors and actresses did a great job portraying their individual characters. So well, in fact that throughout the movie I felt I was watching Harry, Hermione, and Ron and not Daniel, Emma, and Rupert. As with the last few movies, the special effects are to an all time high. I have to say that this movie had more comedic moments that any other Harry Potter movie to date which I always perceive as a good thing. I also thought that this movie really captured my attention well and made me fell the pain that Harry was going through which made me see Harry in a different light. Just a note to those of you who are new to the Harry Potter Mania: if you see this movie rent the others first so you have an idea about what going on! All in all, I give this movie five stars!

Thanks to everyone who sent in their review!