Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The most striking aspect of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is its contrast between the hormonally and supernaturally tormented teenager at its center and the modestly well-made and easygoing picture unfolding all around him. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Thinned down from the series' longest book, Phoenix can't shake an episodic feeling that makes it difficult to develop momentum. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Brought me straight back to one of the most enduring of childhood feelings: boredom. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: Director David Yates, who is new to the Potter franchise, moves the story along briskly, at the expense of texture and nuance. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Continuing the increasingly darker, more adult trend of the series, the film version is swiftly paced, engrossing and often thrilling. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The movie is at times brilliant with a powerhouse performance by Imelda Staunton. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Order Of The Phoenix feels a little too complacent at times, though it has moments of visual wit, and it doesn't soft-pedal the dark mood that has eclipsed the series. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: This movie feels less like a plot-point checklist than the last one did, and there's enough visual razzle-dazzle to entertain those who haven't read the book and might miss a twist here or a turn there. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: This series is growing up with moody blockbuster urgency. More emotionally wracked with each new entry, the Potter franchise has become a mainstream fantasy metaphor for adolescent crisis. It's Rebel Without a Curse. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: This is the bleakest Potter installment to date, and under David Yates's choppy direction, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, and David Thewlis have little more than walk-ons. Read more

Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle: Partly due to its intensity, Order of the Phoenix is better than the first four in the series. Also credit a much tighter, meatier script and better acting. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: There's still enough suspense built into the saga to keep us watching, but after five installments, this dazzling box office wizard is slowly running out of tricks. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Yates, especially given the sinister subject matter on hand, does a rather workmanlike job of traffic-managing the action. But some of the magic effects are indeed magical. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Truth be told, it's the lad's many onscreen allies that prove the film franchise's richest draws. (Thank you, Alan Rickman, for your wonderfully embittered turn as Severus Snape.) Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Yates is wise not to stuff too many characters into this yarn, and plays everybody well, if sparingly. He can't offer a sense of completion -- more movies to come, you know -- but he offers a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting transition. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: For all the action -- and there's plenty of it, even if it's only a portion of what was crammed into Rowling's 870 pages -- the most important stuff is what takes place in Harry's head. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: There is a lot of story here, complex and compelling. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: To their credit, new director David Yates and new screenwriter Michael Goldenberg never lose the heart of the tale. Even in the midst of an incredibly thrilling magical battle of whippeting wands, flashing light and furor, they focus on Harry's inner war. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: The darkest and most menacing by far of the five [films, [Phoenix] is also the only series entry outside of the third that feels like the product of a vivid cinematic imagination and not just a slavishly faithful transposition. Read more

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: For all its gloominess, Order of the Phoenix is, in several ways, the best Potter picture yet. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: It's the familiar faces that help make Phoenix the best Potter movie yet. Director Yates, who is expected to return for the next installment, continues the shift away from set design and toward performance. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: If you've read all the books and seen all the movies up to this point, you may not mind the extra weight. But a newcomer to the Potter chronicles making his or her acquaintance with this film may be forgiven for wondering where the magic is. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: The storytelling seems occasionally disjointed, but...for all the special-effects wizardry, that touch of film magic never surfaces. There's fireworks and action and much swooshing about, but this interim installment seems stuck in one nightmarish gear. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: By focussing the story on Harry (a leaner and slightly meaner Daniel Radcliffe) and his exploits, Yates dispenses with many of the novel's subplots and is able to push the story forward, ominously foreshadowing the dark times to come. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Did I mention that, for all its portentousness, this is the best Harry Potter picture yet? In some ways, it improves on J. K. Rowling's novel, which is punishingly protracted and builds to a climactic wand-off better seen than read. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It all feels a little safe. The movie's full of spells, all right. But where's the magic? Read more

Colin Bertram, New York Daily News: It's action-packed, darker, more epic and thankfully schmaltz-free. And it's the best Harry Potter film yet. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A fruitcake-of-a-movie dense with exposition and woefully short on payoff. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Although Order of the Phoenix is not a great movie, it is a pretty good one, in part because it does not strain to overwhelm the audience with noise and sensation. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Yates lacks a steady grip on the shape and rhythm of the film. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: With its fifth cinematic outing, the Harry Potter film series has ascended to another level. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Whatever happened to the delight and, if you'll excuse the term, the magic in the Harry Potter series? Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Order of the Phoenix, the best of the series so far, has the laughs, the jitters and the juice to make even nonbelievers wild about Harry. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This is a gangly, confusing sprawl, and yet there are enough patches of beauty scattered throughout that it's impossible to reject it wholesale. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There's a really good one-hour movie here, but you'll have to blast through 138 minutes to find it. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: The whole Hogwarts faculty is so beautifully cast, it reinforces the American impression that in Britain great actors must be piled up on the side of the road in heaps. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: It seems that love and friendship are qualities worth rattling your wand over. En route, we can once more ooh-and-aah at the franchise's impressive array of acting talent. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A movie much more in the mode of a conventional thriller than previous Potter outings. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Potter 5 [is] not just a ripping yarn but a powerful, poignant coming-of-age story. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Performances are more mature, the soundtrack (by Nicholas Hooper) less grandiose, and Yates executes some thrilling set-pieces. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Installment five boosts his [Harry's] rebellion to enjoyable levels of British pique. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The special effects continue to be masterful, but villains are given a new twist, and Order of the Phoenix is all the more fun because of it. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The metaphors are all implicit and have a lot to do with just growing up and facing unpleasant realities, but they increasingly contribute to the feeling of nervousness and unease creeping into the series. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: Familiarity is not quite breeding contempt for Harry and his friends and enemies. But it's starting to breed indifference. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: [The filmmakers] have transformed J.K. Rowling's garrulous storytelling into something leaner, moodier and more compelling, that ticks with metronomic purpose as the story flits between psychological darkness and cartoonish slapstick. Read more