The worm has finally turned with the Harry Potter franchise. Not only are the characters and the challenges they face moving beyond the fumbling, comic and awkwardly childlike into the realm of the truly adult, but the actors who have inhabited these characters for almost eight years now are growing up as well. Candies that turned tongues sour have been replaced with spells that kill or maim, and a darkness that we all knew was festering around the world of wizardry and magic is coming out of the shadows.
In a sense, the Potter movies have been growing with and mirroring the millions of mostly young readers out there who have fallen in love with these characters from day one. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is very aware of its function as the beginning of the end for the franchise and, as such, is the darkest flick yet -- full of sinister characters, creatures and very adult machinations.
We first meet Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) in the very dank and soulless muggle world where he is still facing incessant attacks by Dudley. Harry is in misery and having a lonely summer until two dementors arrive and attack. In a defensive move, the young wizard discharges his wand in public (forbidden) and soon experiences a set of reactions (including expulsion from Hogwarts) from the Ministry of Magic that further anger and isolate him. To make matters worse, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are absent from his life; he is branded a liar by the Daily Prophet newspaper in regards to the return of Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his role in the death of Cedric; and he's been kept in the dark about The Order of the Phoenix -- a collection of wizards and witches, including Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who eventually help defend against Voldemort and the Death-Eaters. He is having a bad year, indeed.
Meanwhile, a Ministry of Magic bureaucrat (Imelda Staunton) placed at Hogwarts to whip it into shape goes power mad and restricts the students' education and freedoms, leaving them all woefully unprepared for any sort of magical conflict. Harry, still warning of the return of Voldemort, is eventually convinced to form Dumbledore's Army and train students in the spells and enchantments necessary to defeat evil. The film rides to a fantastic conclusion in the Hall of Prophecies -- an immense library of potions, spells and... well, prophecies.
In a sense, the Potter movies have been growing with and mirroring the millions of mostly young readers out there who have fallen in love with these characters from day one. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is very aware of its function as the beginning of the end for the franchise and, as such, is the darkest flick yet -- full of sinister characters, creatures and very adult machinations.
We first meet Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) in the very dank and soulless muggle world where he is still facing incessant attacks by Dudley. Harry is in misery and having a lonely summer until two dementors arrive and attack. In a defensive move, the young wizard discharges his wand in public (forbidden) and soon experiences a set of reactions (including expulsion from Hogwarts) from the Ministry of Magic that further anger and isolate him. To make matters worse, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are absent from his life; he is branded a liar by the Daily Prophet newspaper in regards to the return of Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his role in the death of Cedric; and he's been kept in the dark about The Order of the Phoenix -- a collection of wizards and witches, including Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who eventually help defend against Voldemort and the Death-Eaters. He is having a bad year, indeed.
Meanwhile, a Ministry of Magic bureaucrat (Imelda Staunton) placed at Hogwarts to whip it into shape goes power mad and restricts the students' education and freedoms, leaving them all woefully unprepared for any sort of magical conflict. Harry, still warning of the return of Voldemort, is eventually convinced to form Dumbledore's Army and train students in the spells and enchantments necessary to defeat evil. The film rides to a fantastic conclusion in the Hall of Prophecies -- an immense library of potions, spells and... well, prophecies.