Harry Potter review

Harry hits a black patch

HT review by Vinayak Chakravorty

Seriously, at the rate this series is going from dark to darker, they’ll need Scorsese to wrap up the finalé.If you are one of the Potteratti, the book had already given you an idea of what was coming, by way The Order Of The Phoenix the movie. For those not sold on Pottermania, here’s a current affairs update: the boyish grin is out, furrowed frown is in. The sunshine years are over, darkness is setting in. Dementors threaten, the Dark Lord edges in his eerie nose into the story with more menace, and Hogwarts has turned into an oppressive medieval institution.Harry Potter’s life just hit a black patch. (Read full review)

Rating: ***

Some magic at last!

REDIFF review by Sumit Bhattacharya

There's magic, and then there's magic.
The real charm of the Harry Potter books, as any Pottermaniac will vouch for, is not so much in the fantastic spells the boy wizard and his friends learn at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but the magic of human emotions.
You don't have to be a fantasy fan to like Harry Potter; the core of the books is closer to P G Wodehouse school stories than Tolkien. That's what the four films before Order Of The Phoenix failed to grasp.
There were special effects galore, but you didn't feel Harry's emptiness every time a school year ended. You didn't feel his goodness, and you didn't grow with him (Read full review)

Rating: ***1/2

It is a highly entertaining watch

CNNIBN review by Rajeev Masand

If you're not a fan of the Harry Potter films then you've got to watch the new film in the series. If you are a fan of the Harry Potter films, then you're going to watch it anyway. The thing is, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth film in the series, is nothing like the previous movies. If the first two films by Home Alone director Chris Columbus were adventure-filled kiddie films, then the third by Alfonso Cuaron was slightly darker but quite stylish, and the fourth by Mike Newell only got grittier. This fifth film, however, directed by David Yates, is the darkest of them all. And that, of course, is great news because even the most hardcore Harry Potter fans - like myself - were getting a little tired of all the fun-and-games, all the gimmicks, the silly magic tricks, the Quidditch matches… I think everyone's really been waiting for Harry Potter to grow up and for the story to move forward (Read full review)

Rating:***

A treat for non-readers as well

MUMBAI MIRROR review by Roshnee Desai

Finally, a Harry Potter movie is out, which captures the details of Harry’s amazing wizarding world that makes the book such a joy to read, page after page.
While the previous two movies, ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ attempted to do this as well and did manage to finally give us a taste of magic, the first two movies were a complete waste of resources and disappointed the audiences greatly.
Like any movie adaptation of a book, as detailed and comprehensive as Harry Potter, this movie, too, miss out on a lot of the exciting bits and sometimes the entire episodes.
Leaving that aside, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, makes for an entertaining and engaging viewing. Some superb camera work teamed with excellent animation makes you finally get the feel of being in Harry Potter’s amazing world. Also, the background detailing in the scenes and the varied magical activities taking place add to the excitement and will surely be appreciated by those who have read the book, word by word. (Read full review)

Rating:***1/2