I have something up my Wizards Sleeve !! (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2 DVDs))

Member Name: martyfarty69

Product:	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2 DVDs)
Date:	22/07/09 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Does great justice to the Book, beautifully shot with great acting and just an overall great movie

Disadvantages: Some critics will be unhappy at the exclusion of some key elements of the book

After just watching the latest Harry Potter movie at the Cinema ( A review of that to come later ) I decided to re-visit this movie on DVD before heading off to the Movies.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy adventure film based off the novel of the same name and is a continuation of the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise, currently it stands as the 7th highest grossing movie of all time.

The Plot :

On his summer break from Hogwarts Harry Potter ( Daniel Radcliffe ) and his cousin Dudley ( Harry Melling ) are attacked by two Dementors, Harry manages to drive them away using a Patronus charm.
The Ministry of Magic detects the usage of underage wizardry outside of Hogwarts and summons Harry to the Ministry for a hearing with the goal of having Harry expelled from Hogwarts.
Harry is later woken up by an advanced guard of Aurors ( Not mentioned in the film ) who escort him to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation founded by Dumbledore ( Michael Gambon ), while at the Order Harry learns of a smear campaign against him and anyone else who suggests that Voldemort ( Ralph Fiennes ) has returned, the smear campaign is being executed by the Daily Prophet, under the influence of the Ministry.
Harry attends his trial at the Ministry with Arthur Weasley ( Mark Williams ) , with the help of Dumbledore and Harry's neighbour Mrs Figg, Harry is cleared of all charges and allowed to return to Hogwarts.
At the beginning of the School year Harry, Ron ( Rupert Grint ) and Hermione ( Emma Watson ) find that the Ministry has inserted Dolores Umbridge ( Imelda Staunton ) as the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and soon find that the reason for this is the Ministry is worried that Dumbledore is forming an army using the students at Hogwarts and as such they are not taught much by umbridge.
Without giving away the rest of the movie we see Harry and friends battling not only the Dark forces that are threatening the students and life at Hogwarts, but also battling to make the wizarding world realise that Voldemort has indeed returned.

I know the Harry Potter series of movies has its critics amongst the fans of the Books, and I can see their reasoning, the movies do tend to leave things out that are in the books, simply I believe due to time constraints, for instance in this movie one of the biggest absences was the complete lack of any quidditch, whereas in the book it plays a prominent role, also we see the Character of Kreatcher the House elf playing only a very brief part in this movie ( about 2 minutes ) whereas in the Book he plays a larger role.
I can understand why the filmmakers had to do it, they're guaranteed to not please everyone, I'm a HUGE Fan of the books ( I remember reading this book in 2 days the day it came out, not bad for a book with 766 pages ) but also a HUGE fan of the movies too, especially the later movies as I really feel they have departed from being simply Kids movies and having adopted the darker tone of the later books have become more adult oriented, which I love.

The Film is beautifully shot, with a fantastic score and the running time of 138 minutes flies by, it segways nicely into the 6th movie which is out now at the Cinema, if you're a fan of the Harry Potter series then this is must see viewing, and even if you're just a movie fan then this is one of the better action adventure movies and I think rivals' such greats as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Summary: A must for Harry Potter fans