Genre Adventure

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Item: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Rating: 2.0
Author: Ross McLaren

★★ — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

By the mid-2000s, the Harry Potter franchise had settled into its rhythm as one of the most reliable film series in recent British cinema history. Each instalment, produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Heyday Films, arrived with enormous anticipation and an audience already intimately familiar with J.K. Rowling's source novels. The fifth book in the series, published in 2003, was at the time the longest in the saga, and adapting it presented an obvious challenge: how do you compress over 800 pages of adolescent frustration, political manoeuvring and world-building into a single feature film? The answer, as screenwriter Michael Goldenberg found, involved making some fairly drastic cuts to the plot. The film, running at 138 minutes, is paradoxically both the adaptation of the longest book and the shortest film in the series to that point. The cultural backdrop matters too: by 2007, the franchise was entering its darker, more self-consciously serious phase, moving away from the warmer, school-adventure atmosphere of the earlier entries.

This is also the point at which the series handed the directorial reins to David Yates, who would go on to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, effectively making him the custodian of the franchise's second half. Yates came to the project primarily from British television, including high-profile BBC dramas, and his appointment was considered something of a surprise at the time. His instinct was clearly to push the tone towards something grittier and more grounded, a decision that shaped not just this film but the entire remaining run of the series. Whether that approach suited the material was always going to be a matter of opinion.

In front of the camera, Daniel Radcliffe (whose earlier work in the series you can revisit in reviews of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) carries the weight of a Harry who is angrier and more isolated than in any previous instalment. The support around him is formidable on paper: Rupert Grint and Emma Watson return as Ron and Hermione, while the new addition of Imelda Staunton as the pink-clad, bureaucratic antagonist Dolores Umbridge proved a genuine talking point among audiences and critics alike. Helena Bonham Carter joins the cast here as Bellatrix Lestrange, a role that would become one of the more memorable recurring presences in the later films. The ensemble, in short, is polished but unremarkable in its deployment, a supporting cast assembled with care and then given variable amounts of screen time.

Of all the Harry Potter films, this one feels the most like a slog. It’s not the absolute worst, just the most forgettable. Instead of moving the story forward with energy or purpose, it spends most of its time dumping lore, circling the same frustrations, and trapping Harry in a cycle of anger and isolation that quickly grows tiresome. The Ministry denying Voldemort’s return makes sense in the plot, but watching adults ignore the truth for over two hours gets dull fast. The film is long, grim, and oddly flat. David Yates makes his series debut here, and while his style brings a darker tone, it also drains much of the magic out of Hogwarts. The castle feels more like a prison than a school, and the rebellion of Dumbledore’s Army, which should be empowering, comes across as half-hearted. Even the action in the final battle lacks impact, more crashing and shouting than real tension. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are barely given anything to do, and the emotional core between Harry and Sirius fizzles instead of flaring. When the pivotal moment comes, it doesn’t land with the weight it should. There are a few good visuals (the Ministry’s Hall of Prophecy is eerie, and the Thestrals are striking) but they’re not enough. This one doesn’t so much tell a story as mark time. It’s a filler chapter dressed up as drama, and the lowest point in the series so far.

For me, the Staunton casting is probably the one element I'd single out as genuinely worth your time, because she brings a specific kind of petty, bureaucratic menace that's unsettling in a way the more theatrical villains in this series rarely manage. But even that can't compensate for a film that seems reluctant to let its own story breathe. I found myself watching the clock in a way I rarely do with these films, and that's telling. Sometimes a franchise instalment can do real damage to your enthusiasm for the chapters that follow, and this one came close. Roll on the next.

Rating: ★★ | Year: 2007 | Watched: 2025-07-27

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Trailer

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