Movie Reviews

Review in a Hurry:  How is it that the shortest Harry Potter film so far feels like the longest? Maybe because it's two hours of nothing much happening, with the real intrigue taking place offscreen or in Harry's imagination. Savvy in its way, with great performances, but ultimately dry and disappointing.

The Bigger Picture:  When we last left everyone's favorite apprentice wizard, his nemesis, Voldemort, had returned from the grave. The problem for Harry was, nobody believed it.

This turns out to be the problem for the audience as well, since the bulk of the movie involves everyone but Harry's closest allies treating him like Chicken Little. The villain of Order of the Phoenix, sadly, is the Ministry of Magic, a willfully ignorant bureaucracy whose obstinacy feels an awful lot like convenient story padding. It's a conspiracy of dunces that makes for frustrating viewing—and even more so knowing that the actual bad guys are certainly doing something more interesting off camera.

What's on camera isn't a total loss. It's inspiring to see Harry and his friends come into their own, organizing impromptu self-defense courses when their official curriculum is lacking, and pointedly crushing when they realize just how hard it is to fight city hall. The series is, appropriately, outgrowing some of the wide-eyed wonder of its earlier chapters and developing a more glib comedic tone. Good for you, kids.

But most of Order of the Phoenix feels totally missable, like something you could deal with in two minutes of montage. And if there's one thing a wannabe classic can't afford to be, it's disposable.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  The core performers have never been better, and while the proceedings aren't exciting, they're at least interesting. A three-plus-hour version delving more deeply into the intricate political maneuverings of J. K. Rowling's book would not have been, paradoxically, more compelling—or profitable.