Phoenix Review!

The People -
Good: Umbridge! Imelda Staunton, wonderful actress from Vera Drake (excellent movie with lousy ending), steals the show from the very first "hem hem". Harry is fantastic, I can't believe how good he's gotten. He handles emotionally complex scenes with Sirius and in Hog's Head with consummate ease. Luna and Dudley are wonderful surprises. Voldemort RULES (that black suit, ooooooh). Snape and McGonagall shine in their little scenes. And Ron, finally, is not comic relief! :)
Understandable: Bellatrix was good but I was expecting more of her, a LOT more. Very little Trelawney (but what's there is good), Kreacher pretty much cut (he's much better than Dobby, at least), no Phineas Nigellus (sob) and no Walburga Black (SOB). And what is with this weird "Nigel" (though v. cute), who seems to be a composite of the Creevey brothers?
Terrible: Lupin, Percy, Tonks and Regulus Black vanish. Hermione's Eyebrows of Doom taxed to the max. Aunt Petunia's suddenly dressing like a prostitute. Neville is the new Dobby?


The Main Events-
Good: The DA, Dumbledore's great escape, Harry's trial and the Dementor attack are all amazing, splendid, and done just right. Awesome.
Okay: Fred and George leaving school is just a little blah. The Ministry of Magic fight scenes are filled with strange black and white whooshing smoke instead of proper spells and duelling. Dumbledore's duel with Voldemort has its highs (Ralph Fiennes is just UltimateBadassAwesome-o), but lacks emotional impact.
DISGUSTING: They cut the whole Dumbledore's Office scene in the end, where Harry breaks stuff and shouts at the headmaster! Aaarrgghh. That was the POINT of the book, you morons! I hate Michael Gambon, and the less I see of him, the better... but this scene was essential, dammit. And there was no follow-through for any of the major emotional upheavals that Harry suffers. My dad was a jerk to Snape? Oh no- oooh, shiny! And later, Sirius died? Revenge! - wait, who's Sirius again? I'm too busy being haughty and enlightened and smug about the Power of Love(TM). Plus, I repeat: no REGULUS BLACK! Methinks a certain RAB is coming to bite the moviemakers in the wrong place...

The Effects -
Good: Grawp was a nice surprise. Cute, and way less boring than in the book. Thestrals looked great, as did the Patronuses and Kreacher.
Meh: House of Black. No impact, just any old house. Of course, with no mad Walburga, it was bound to be a little disappointing. The prophecies all breaking was all right.
Stupid: Sirius's death. UGH. The veil isn't really a veil - just mist. It doesn't help that he dies before falling into it - Bellatrix uses AK instead of a stunner. That was just ridiculous.

The Little Things -
Good: Aberforth's goat, SQUEEEE! Ginny was great, and they managed to foreshadow Harry/Ginny without going overboard. The Luna/Harry connection was brilliant - even the bits they added - and Sirius/Harry was just beautiful and heartbreaking.
Wha-?: Why this sudden infatuation with winks? Why?
Grooaaaan: Why oh why did Harry and Cho not break up simply because she was too weepy? That was the best, cutest, most hilarious relationship I've ever read in a book. Did you notice they moved Privet Drive to somewhere in rural Kansas? All those corn fields! Neville was stupid: Hi Harry, as a guy who is not particularly close to me, I bet you didn't know my mom and dad are crazy. But I'm not ready to tell anyone yet, and there isn't really a good reason to tell YOU, kthxbai.

Overall: Order of the Phoenix flubs on a lot of biggies, but at least it's not as bad as the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. Daniel Radcliffe and Imelda Staunton make it definitely worth watching. All the little jokes and details from the book (and some original) are added delights.