Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - A review

2.5 out of 5. The adaption of the book was terrible. I would say about 40% of the book is left out, and not the normal no ghosts and stuff. I mean no quidditch, no mention of the prefects, not Rita Skeeter and the quibbler, but other than that. It was a lot of flash, smoke and mirrors if you will. The battle at the end was well done and there were a lot of effects throughout the movie, but I thought the plot was really thin. Having read the book and remembering how much I had hated Umbridge, I didn't have the same feeling during the movie. Yeah she was played well, and I thought the acting was well done over all, just short on what they were acting towards. The plot didn't really build around the viewer absolutely hating Umbridge for about 3/4 of the movie like the book did. At best it was moderate dislike. There was no real connection to the past books or movies, no Dooby, no real explanation as to what an auror was or did (the group of people that come to get Harry in the beginning of the movie are aurors - they are like the Marshalls of the wizarding community) and Harry didn't even get to express his interest in becoming one. The other things I didn't like about it were the way Harry came to start taking occlumency, completely different from the book, and (SPOILER ALERT) the way the prophesy was done. In the book Harry never heard the whole prophesy while at the ministry he heard it through Dumbledore's memory, and it was Treelawney's prediction which is never mentioned in the movie. Also Harry had to break the prophecy to hear it at the ministry in book. I blame the problems with this movie on the director and the screenwriters. It was silly to try and cram the longest book thus far in the series into a 2 hour movie. This movie should have been at least 3 hours and it would have been worth it. People that just follow the movies will think it is OK or GOOD but the folks that read the books will score this movie much lower. Especially after seeing what all was crammed into the last movie the Goblet of Fire and it was excellent. Also I think if you only follow the movies you will be missing out on certain details that will be important down the road. So for a full break down

Adaption of the book 1 out of 5
Effects 4.5 out of 5
Acting 4 out of 5
Story and Plot 2.5 out of 5
Rank in the Series 5th best

Advice: If you really must, see it in the theatre. If you can wait, I'd wait 'til the DVD comes out.