ROTTEN TOMATOES: Critical Consensus: "Order of the Phoenix" Rises to the Occasion

Critical Consensus: "Order of the Phoenix" Rises to the Occasion

by Alex Vo | July 10, 2007

Good thing school's out. Otherwise, we'd expect a lot of half-populated classrooms as kids ditch to revel in the cinematic glow of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," opening tomorrow. The boy wizard had a rocky start on Monday in which he dangled perilously close to rotten territory, but has since made an impressive comeback with the critics.

Fans apprehensive on how newcomer director David Yates would handle the longest and densest "Potter" novel yet can rest easy, according to the critics. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" revolves around Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) continuing growing pains: first kisses, suspension from school, rebelling with an army of kids to overthrow the educative autocracy, and confronting the murderer of his parents. You know, kids' stuff. While some say "Order" feels like a placeholder setting up the final two sequels, most agree that Yates makes the most of the job (and his CG budget), serving up a relentlessly dark and grim vision of Hogwarts. And with his tight, efficient script, writer Michael Goldenberg eschews the excess while keeping the emotional trappings of the 800-page source novel. With a Certified Fresh 74 percent Tomatometer, the magic continues for the "Potter" series.

This guy waited in line a long time to see the latest "Potter" flick.

"Harry Potter" Movies
----------------------------------
89% -- "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire " (2005)
89% -- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004)
82% -- "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " (2002)
79% -- "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone " (2001)

Related Items

Celeb:	Michael Goldenberg
	Daniel Radcliffe
	David Yates

(1-20 of 26 posts) | Reply

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jul 10 2007 01:42 PM

It's great that the series' lowest scorest T-meter entry is a solid 74. They're excellent movies and they deserve their critical acclaim.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jul 10 2007 01:42 PM

IMO...

(Reply to this)

Infernal writes:
on Jul 10 2007 01:59 PM

In my opinion, there has never been a movie series as consistently good as the Harry Potter series.

The fifth one was great, I work at Cinetopia part-time, so I saws the pre-screening.

In my top five movies of all time.

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother writes:
on Jul 10 2007 02:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#912199)
What about Indiana Jones? I love Potter too, but it's not quite in the same league as the 3 Indy films. For me at least.

(Reply to this)

IMAmoose24 writes:
on Jul 10 2007 04:55 PM

umm.. Lord of the Rings anyone?

(Reply to this)

sharpless writes:
on Jul 10 2007 05:09 PM

I'll never understand the appeal of Harry Potter. I'll just stick to my Lord of the Rings, thanks.

(Reply to this)

kiddo writes:
on Jul 10 2007 05:55 PM

This Harry Potter is the best in the series yet! Even nonreaders of the books are in for a total delight.

(Reply to this)

TitusCosminus writes:
on Jul 10 2007 06:32 PM

[b]Order of the Pheonix...[/b]
...dazzales and delights , much more gritty and creppy with a newly introduced sense of awe and invitable climax, simply powerful. We're never gonna get an R rated Potter just so you know...

(Reply to this)

Bender writes:
on Jul 10 2007 06:37 PM

[b]Cow[/b]
Mooooo.... I don't know

(Reply to this)

pom_pom288 writes:
on Jul 10 2007 06:57 PM

How Columbus' mediocre first two films got higher reviews than OTP I will never understand.

I think the HP series is the only series where the films actually get better.

I still want Cuaron for film 7, though.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jul 10 2007 08:47 PM

In reply to this comment (#919812)
Agreed on Cuaron. He started what I found to be a trend of perfection (except I have yet to see OOTP) and I think he should close it.

(Reply to this)

TheIceGhost writes:
on Jul 10 2007 08:50 PM

I'll be seeing it bright and early tomorrow morning.

Just finished watching Goblet of Fire tonight (Since Saturday I've watched 1 movie a night to have the flicks fresh in my mind). After I see Order tomorrow I'll begin reading Half-blood Prince, get that done by the 21st and then wait at my mailbox for Deathly Hallows which I pre-ordered from Amazon.

Reviews have either been high praise or straight up disgust. It seems to me that what I thought would happen came true: People who have read the book generally enjoy the movie and the new tone, people who haven't are startled by the new tone, forcing some to believe that it's not very Harry Potter-ish and henceforth not good... because we all know that the near black mass from GoF should have been followed up by pretty colors and frilly dresses. :)

Since the reactions are on either end of the spectrum (obviously a bit more on the praise-side) the Tomatometer has been graded lower than it should. Shame really, but it just goes to show even the meter isn't always accurate.

I want Cuaron for film 7 too.

(Reply to this)

DiscoDan writes:
on Jul 10 2007 10:35 PM

I think it makes sense that this is the least fresh of the series.. the book was the longest and perhaps the "worst" in the series, if you want to use that word, even though it was amazing. To me it felt like the hardest to translate to film, but we'll see how it goes.

PS: I HATE UMBRIDGE@!!!

(Reply to this)

CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe writes:
on Jul 10 2007 11:44 PM

[b]thrilled[/b]
this is great news, i heard so many bad reviews i was losing hope but now that i know its fresh, i will enjoy myself. hope its as good as the third one, my personal favorite.

(Reply to this)

CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe writes:
on Jul 10 2007 11:46 PM

In reply to this comment (#919807)
[b]100% agree[/b]
completely on the mark moose, nothing is better than the three lord of the rings series. second on my list would be indiana jones then star wars but perhaps potter can overtake lucas's descending quality of work.

(Reply to this)

Landshark writes:
on Jul 11 2007 05:37 AM

I'd say that this is the best interpretation of the book to film so far in the Harry Potter series. There is no way the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber are better than this one. It was actually one of my least favorites in the book series, but this is certainly my favorite film. The only people who are giving them rotten reviews are doing so because they expect it to be a kiddy 100%, light-hearted family adventure. I think those Harry films ended with the Chamber of Secrets, and the critics are in for a treat when they witness the next film (which will be FAR darker than the Order).

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jul 11 2007 07:19 AM

In reply to this comment (#912197)
Yeah that's pretty cool. I agree. There are series out there made up of less than five movies and they still can't achieve such a feat. Bravo Potter films.

Also, completely off-topic, but sharpless: Have you ever heard of Madama Butterfly? Just curious (if you're wondering why I'm asking, it's because your UserTitle implies that you have).

(Reply to this)

dudemovies writes:
on Jul 11 2007 07:36 AM

In reply to this comment (#919808)
Its kind of funny I'm the complete opposite I'll never understand Lord of the Rings but I love Harry Potter

(Reply to this)

Thundaar writes:
on Jul 11 2007 11:43 AM

I think the LOTR films have a more consistent look to them - writing and directing. Potter films are all good though. I think OOtP was a very good film - best of the summer so far - much better than silly Transformers or lackluster Spidey for my money.

(Reply to this)

TheIceGhost writes:
on Jul 11 2007 01:08 PM

Just got back from OotP. Good movie. I posted a rather long review (much too long to comment here) on my blog, going a fair way into dealing with both the positives and negatives of the flick (which there are aplenty of both). See if you agree or disagree and check it out! I make sure to mention bits that have definitely not been discussed by any of the reviews I've read. Warning though, there are some spoilers.

www.harrythefourthcoming.blogspot.com

(Reply to this)

Related Links

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Related Articles

Most Discussed

Latest News

Latest Interviews

Latest Features

Sponsored Links