

Travis Prinzi at Sword of Gryffindor as posted a "massive review" of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Travis says the movie will "probably end up" as his favorite so far, but he has a few issues with some of the scenes. For example:
Sirius’s Death: While it’s supposed to catch us by surprise, Sirius’ falling through the veil comes out of nowhere. And since Bellatrix cast an AK at Sirius, the veil actually became rather irrelevant, except that Sirius fell through it after getting AK’d.
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The Dumbledore-Voldemort duel: This was a killer for me. Almost all dialogue was stripped from this scene, and it was little more than a light show, which wasn’t really impressive in the first place. Once again Gambon’s poor portrayal of Dumbledore comes through. Dumbledore’s calmness in the atrium in the book makes the whole scene, as it is contrasted with Voldemort’s desparate attacks. We get no such dynamic in the massive display of power given us in the movie. The lack of Fawkes was the final straw for me, especially since it was perfectly set-up by Dumbledore’s Fawkes-escape from Fudge and Dawlish.
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The Dumbledore Denouement: I think perhaps Yates realizes what an abysmal choice Gambon has turned out to be. The whole scene in Dumbledore’s office is almost non-existent. It doesn’t happen until a few days after the Ministry. Harry doesn’t smash anything, and only a few brief lines, taken almost directly from the book, comprise the scene. Harry actually hears the prophecy in the DoM, so there’s not much need to discuss that in Dumbledore’s office. While I’m almost glad that Yates cut this scene, because I knew Gambon would kill it, it’s too bad that has to be the case. And Radcliffe has become quite the actor, so it would have been nice to see him smashing things.
Such deviations from and interpretations of the books are why I said I wasn't going to see the movie. But I suppose they did what they could with a novel of over 800 pages.
So, is " Order of the Phoenix" as bad as I think it is or better than you expected? I'd love to read your reviews.
Update (7/13): I ranted about Cho ratting out the DA and how out of character it was, but a commenter says Umbridge gave her Veritaserum. And Cho was distraught when she found out what she'd revealed. That makes more sense, which is probably why JKR approved the change.


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