Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-critics

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

From the somnambulant response to the boy wizard's latest tale you'd think the critics had swallowed one of sneering Snape's potions. What did you think ?

July16, 2007

Tired and emotional... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

There's a strange sense of malaise about the critical response to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, almost as if reviewers have accidentally swallowed one of sneering Snape's more potent potions. Or perhaps it's just the fact that, even though audiences clearly haven't yet tired of seeing the boy wizard on screen, critics are getting extremely bored of reviewing the films (this is the fifth in six years).

"Every time I sit down to a new Harry Potter movie, I'm struck by how very, very similar it is to the previous one - and how forgettable, even disposable, the plot twists are," writes our own Peter Bradshaw, although he ends up giving the film a three star rating anyway.

Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, meanwhile, harks back to the apparent glory days of the earlier films. "Whatever happened to the delight and, if you'll excuse the term, the magic in the Harry Potter series?" he writes. "As the characters grow up, the stories grow, too, leaving the innocence behind and confusing us with plots so labyrinthine that it takes a PhD from Hogwarts to figure them out."

Paul Arendt, for the BBC, says Order of the Phoenix "is entertaining enough, but it feels like a stopgap, a stepping stone to later, greater thrills". But again, he still manages to find it within himself to give the movie three out of five.

Over on the blogs, DGD Davidson of the Sci-Fi Catholic, is even more scathing. "David Yates has returned the series to its roots," he writes. "By that, I mean it's agonisingly boring. Worse still, it doesn't even make a pretense of being funny."

It's left to Charles Frederick in the Telegraph to offer a more positive perspective. "Each successive film in the Harry Potter series adds layers of depth while the plot moves into rewarding territory," he writes. "Harry Potter is older, bigger and darker than ever. And no one would want to miss his journey."

Did you catch the film at the weekend? And have you seen the others? How does the new film compare? Or perhaps you'd rather face a Dementor first thing in the morning than catch a Harry Potter movie. Let us know your thoughts by posting below.

Comments

[Architecture]

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[Ed]

It is so difficult to give one's opinion about the film without comparing it to the book. The fifth book of the series has so far been my favourite, because to my mind it is the reflection of our early-XXIst-century-society in which security is always shown as what we should look for whatever we do, and in which dark sides of history seem to return... At least we should be watchful, and from that point of view the story is initiatory. I found this movie as entertaining as the previous ones, rather faithful to the book, although some parts of it are missing, but I look forward to receiving the 7th and last book next week !