War’s a’ brewing and sides are being chosen. The rebellion is beginning. The stunning opening sequence where teenage, Converse-clad Potter is attacked by Dementors will leave you gripped within minutes if not already hiding behind the person in front.

It soon becomes apparent that the angst-ridden Potter is not only up against the return of Lord Voldemort but the Ministry of Magic as well, who refuse to admit the return of The Dark Lord. He narrowly misses being expelled from the school for using a certain spell in public and so the press make an example of him. This leads to some of his fellow wizards disbelieving him and not being sure what to believe. Angrier-by-the-minute Potter must face some of his darkest most inner demons to combat ‘he whose name cannot be mentioned’, while secretly training the younger recruits in the art of defence. With the Ministry taking control of Hogwarts, bureaucracy and education gone mad, Harry and friends recruit their own army ready to defend themselves against the armies of darkness.

Director David Yates brings a much darker tone to the franchise and seeing as he is earmarked for the sixth film, this trend should continue. Spectacular special effects as usual and shots of the young wizards flying over London, passing the houses of parliament, drew me in more and more and I found myself wanting to believe. However, at times you couldn’t help realise that these were actors on set pretending to attack each other with one waft of a wand and at times became quite laughable. With so much time and effort dedicated to the effects perhaps the rest of the edit suffered. Most of the fights could have been tighter and a lot of the scenes with the younger cast, shorter.

Some good performances from the star-studded cast but almost all were shadowed by Imelda Staunton as the cantankerous Dolores Umbridge. She stole practically every scene she was in with brilliant execution and timing of her little titters and giggles. The limited script doesn’t give much opportunity for most to shine, instead relying on character traits, but everything gels together well and seems to work out in the end. The relationships between the main characters are barely touched upon, instead introducing new ones that unfortunately fell rather flat.

I am still unsure as to whether they are saving Daniel Radcliffe’s acting ability as a surprise for later or whether in fact he simply hasn’t been let loose as the teen-wizard yet. At times it feels like how Hayden Christensen looked in Star Wars. They end up appearing wooden, reading the script and simply getting on with it. They may look the part but long scenes of dialogue and lots of running around don’t do much for the role.

Even as a non-believer I did find myself wanting to know more about the depth of the Potter world, the previous war and so forth but I shan’t be holding my breath for the 18 version just yet. If Order of the Phoenix has set the tone, I eagerly await to see how much darker the next ones might dare to get, and to see whether or not Daniel Radcliffe will suddenly impress me. Who knows?

by Ian Cook

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
– In 3-D

First of all let me apologise, this is going to be a strange review. Although ostensibly this is a film review, this is also a review of an experience. This particular version of Harry Potter and The order of the Phoenix is on show at the BFI I-Max cinema in London. It differs from other versions in two ways. Firstly it is on gigantic screen. Secondly the final twenty minutes are in 3-D. So this is both a review of the film and of the experience.

There was a brief demonstration before the film started. The audience was shown the position of the numerous speakers and told that 10,000 watts of power are used. That is a heck of a carbon footprint. Then came a demonstration of the 3-D effect. A couple of trailers for a dinosaur movie and a documentary about the sea. Both had the obligatory ‘something coming right at you’ moment. Both moments caused the audience to jump and giggle at themselves for being silly enough to jump.

The film itself begins in typical Harry Potter style. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is at home, being put upon by his loathsome family. Throughout there are the usual trademarks that have marked the franchise. Fantastic attention to detail at Hogwarts School. Voldermort’s looming presence. JK Rowling’s knack for inventing ridiculous things, embodied by the Room of Requirement. An ever expanding who’s who of British acting talent. As the importance of characters shrinks and expands depending on the film you wonder if these actors are wasted. Emma Thompson can not have had more than five minutes screen time. It is business as usual.

This time the story centres on a power struggle. People are becoming twitchy about ‘he who shall not be named’ returning, many refusing to believe it. The magic world splits in two and there is a power struggle. This leads to Dolores Umbridge becoming yet another new defence against the dark arts teacher. She gradually takes over Hogwarts.

Harry learns of the Order of the Phoenix. His parents were members, as is his godfather Sirius Black. He keeps the spirit alive, recruiting pupils and teaching them how to fight back. They bid to regain control of Hogwarts and convince the world that Voldermort’s return is for real.

I mentioned the size of the screen. It is massive. It is so large that you have to turn your head to see what is happening on one side. Unfortunately this means you can’t see what is happening on the other. This turns some exchanges of dialogue into tennis matches, snapping your head from side to side. Come the end of the film my neck was rather stiff.

The size of the screen also impacts the performances of the actors. Every facial nuance is visible. For most this is not a problem. The acting who’s who sails through. Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma Watson (Hermione) also display a great deal of ability. However there is one notable exception and it is quite a problem. The big screen does Daniel Radcliffe no favours. Most of the time he looks like a rabbit caught in headlights. For some scenes that is possibly the desired effect. He spends an awful lot of time terrified. But this cannot continue. They have more films to make and a blank face can only go so far.

And so to the final twenty minutes. The grand climax that previous two hours have been building to. We were told that there would be a signal to let us know that it was time to put on out 3-D glasses. They didn’t say what the signal would be. Suddenly all the tension of the climactic scenes is interrupted by a giant pair of flashing green Two Ronnie’s glasses. The 3-D itself was a disappointment. The effect only seemed to work when sand or glass was falling. The rest of the time it felt wholly unnecessary. Worse still, certain moments became a blur where the two images didn’t overlay properly.

On reflection, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the 3-D I-Max experience are made for each other. Both are enjoyable, but inherently flawed. And both are better than Jaws 3-D.

by Peter Prickett