Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. {Movie Review}

Today I will be reiviewing the Fifth Installment of Harry Potter. The Order of the Phoenix. They do a great job with creating Dudley as a schoolyard bully. Especially his wardrobe. It reminds me of real life, how annoying rich kids were in Highschool. I always thought this scene was a bit overly sociopathic, with Dudley asking why Harry says "don't kill Cedric" in his sleep and teasing him about his dead mother. As with the previous installments, this movie has excellent cinematography, lighting, sets, wardrobes etc. In other words, it's a visually stunning movie. I really love these opening scenes and the way they are shot. First of all, there's no magic yet so there's no cgi. This is proof scenes look better visually without cgi [that's obvious to anyone with half a brain]. There's a lot of detail in these manually zoomed shots with no computer graphics. It's stunning. I love these extended shots of Dudley and Harry running with the shaky cam effect. They did a great job with these early scenes that are very dark in nature. The intro of The Order of the Phoenix is basically like a mini horror movie. It's all adrenaline and suspense. It has you on the edge of your seat and really sets the tone for the movie. Daniel Radcliffe is a horrible actor. There, I said it. Every time Harry Potter's scar hurts, he does the most fake looking cringe ever. Has Daniel Radcliffe never had a toothache or a migraine? Get this kid some acting lessons! This scene of him getting choked out and his soul sucked ... sucks. The worst part about a magical movie with flying broomsticks is you pretty much have to use greenscreens and or cgi models. Look how off the zoom and perspective are on these greenscreen shots of the city. To be fair, I'm not sure there is a "right" way to do these shots. Maybe use a tram and then cut out the wire digitally? That would limit the movement a lot though. Some of the compositions in this movie are beyond perfect. Notice the use of the rule of thirds, which is common for professional photography. They also positioned the bridge in the middle of the composition [from which the rule of thirds is based]. Also notice the whole shot is in focus. The main characters are small and blended into the composition [inside the red telephone booth]. This is a bit off topic but, I never understood why Luna Lovegod and Harry Potter weren't a couple. Harry always likes the hottest popular chick, but then at the same time he's insanely bad with women and dorky as fuck. The two oddball characters would have been better than him falling in love with his best friends sister. Everyone knows this doesn't work out in real life. Plus Luna is the most heroic female character and she's the ultimate Gryffindor [wears a lion costume to the Quidditch matches etc.]. They do go to a dance together, but then I guess Harry gets embarrassed. But I digress. Big mistake on J.K Rowling's part. The new teacher Dolores Umbridge is played by Imelda Staunton. She does a very convincing job playing the character. Dolores Umbridge is the most hate-able character ever. She is patronizing and sociopathic with a very fake feminine charm that is obviously a put on. There are some really poorly written/directed group scenes in this movie for some reason. This scene with "Dumbledore's Army" training should have just been a montage with music [which this series has done before previously]. Look how awkward this scene is below. They are just holding their wands randomly and 5 of them are looking at the camera. I know i said Daniel Radcliffe is a horrible actor, but to be fair, he does a great job in this interplay with Alan Rickman [Professor Snape] when Voldemort is trying to read his mind. Daniel Radcliffe does a good job pretending to be in shock. Bonham Carter plays Bellatrix Lestrange and is excellent as the demented, jailbroken witch. She plays the part well without it being too over the top. Bellatrix Lestrange is one of the most powerful dark characters and I think they casted the role well. There are a lot of movies with really bad third act climaxes. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has the worst third act battle scene ever. Talk about cgi overload. There's just lots of weird camera angles, grunting and special effects. Overall I would give this movie a 7/10. There are other Harry Potter movies that are better. It has good cinematography, but some of the directing is lacking especially in the group shots. The greenscreen shots aren't very good and there is too much cgi. The entire pacing of the movie is a bit too slow. The final fight scene could have been a lot more dramatic and intimate. Certainly not the best of the series although it's enjoyable enough to watch over again.