Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, I went to see Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. I actually saw this film in IMAX 3D.

The story is pretty close to the book, and it starts off with Harry and his fat cousin being attacked by Dementors, in the muggle world. Since Harry was an underage wizard, this causes him to be expelled from Hogwartz school of Wizardry, because he used magic outside of a school setting. He gets busted out by fellow wizards, bunks with them in Sirius Black's home, also the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and gets ready for his hearing the next day.

Harry Potter gets off the charges, but he starts off his year at Hogwartz, and is ridiculed for his belief that the Dark Lord is back. The ministry of Magic is in denial about what happened to him in the previous adventure, and attributes all the weird occurrences to other possibilities.

I'm not going to explain the whole book/movie here, but it is Harry's fifth year at Hogwartz, and the film is pretty true to the book.

The critiques that I have heard from people about the film are very true... They do not spend much time talking about how the Order was formed, which was done in the book. There was also no quidditch this time around, and if I recall correctly, there was a bit of quidditch in the fifth book.

The difference between the IMAX 3D film and the regular film is at the end of the film, where there is a flying and combat scene... It was definitely worth it, in my opinion, to pay a bit extra and see this part in 3D. Primarily because the 3D technology is not available at home. I cannot rent/buy the DVD, and then expect to get the 3D visions on my screen. However, I believe that this may be soon available!

The other critique that I get is that the wizard fighting scene was like fighting puffs of smoke. This is also true, but it was fun in 3D, and the 3D was not as blurry as Superman Returns.

This film is not the best Harry Potter film, but it was enjoyable, and I again believe that the critics were too harsh about it, like they were for many movies this summer.