Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Published on July 12, 2007

The magic is back

This week's new release, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", is clearly going to pack in the crowds, even though there'll be tough competition from "Die Hard 4.0".

The fifth Harry Potter film is as good as the last two in the series. Superbly crafted and extremely well acted, it comprises a who's who of British stage and film.

Where else will you find such a long list of distinguished players, which includes the likes of Michael Gambon, who returns to play Dumbledore, a role many thought Richard Harris had made his own?

He is joined by stalwarts such as Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, David Thewliss, Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane and so on.

New faces here include Helena Bonham Carter and Imelda Staunton, but it is the original cast of heroes, namely Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron and Emma Watson as Hermoine, that makes this chapter such an exciting one to watch.

The big difference here is the underlying political theme penned by JK Rowling, who gives her child readers a better glimpse of the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness of authoritarian governments.

When Dumbledore and Harry are ostracised for spreading the word that Lord Voldemort (Fiennes) is returning to wreak havoc, the community of wizards and witches moves to suppress them.

As the evil Delores Umbridge (Staunton) replaces Dumbledore at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, Harry and his friends have to mount a resistance to thwart their designs.

Director Yates delivers a strong punch, helped by the ground-breaking style brought by Alfonso Cuaron ("Prisoner of Azkaban") in 2004 and Mike Newell ("Goblet of Fire") in 2005.

Hopefully, the silly, intelligence-insulting style of Chris Columbus (who made the first two) won't resurface in this genre, otherwise disenchanted adult members of the audience will disappear in a puff of smoke.