Movie Review: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Synopsis: In the middle of summer, Harry finds himself fighting off Dementors...in the presence of his Muggle cousin! Harry soon gets a letter saying he has been expelled from Hogwarts, and the case eventually goes to trial; will he be able to prove his innocence? Hogwarts itself is going through tough times; after Harry's claim that the evil Lord Voldemort is back, the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding press smells a conspiracy, and is bending over backwards to prove Harry wrong.  The new teacher, Professor Dolores Umbridge, is more focused on getting kids to pass tests than to actually learn magic, which leads to some kids starting a secret magic class and call it Dumbledore's Army.  Will they succeed in learning true magic, or will they be found out? Also, will Harry's claim that You-Know-Who has returned be proven?
Based on the book by J.K. Rowling.

The Good: This is one case--the only one of this series so far--that I would say the movie is better than the book.  The original novel plods a bit, and wastes a lot of space; it almost seems like Rowling was more worried about topping Goblet of Fire in length instead of in quality.  Still, what we have here is a great story, with excellent performances; notable additions to the cast of characters are Nymphadora Tonks and the evil Bellatrix Lestrange.  The finale is appropriately epic; I can only imagine what a treat it was on the big screen.  Profanity is kept to a minimum, and the sexual content that plagued the previous film is not present here; as sultry as it gets is one innocent kiss, which is rare for a "PG-13" film.

The Bad: Honestly, I can't think of any complaints about the film itself; it's not only a wonderful story, it keeps things clean as well.

Conclusion: People often say that the book is always better than the movie; maybe it often is, but, sometimes, I'm not so sure.  Bestselling "young adult" novels The Princess Diaries and Lemonade Mouth were much more sultry than--and, therefore, inferior to in my opinion--the celluloid adaptations; maybe that's because the films were made by Disney.  This is another case of that; the movie focuses on the best parts of the book, and doesn't waste nearly as much time.  I'm sure that people will continue reading the Harry Potter series in its entirety for years to come; however, the book was a low point for the franchise, though this film isn't.

Score: 4.5/5