Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I watched the first showing in my local theater and quite honestly was underwhelmed. I did enjoy the movie though it was not without some disappointment. I believe the book had so much material it could have been done in two movies and still not held it all. Cramming it all into one movie left my head spinning as the story jumped from main point and theme to the next some represented on screen as no more than a 1 or 2 second shot of a Daily Prophet headline. Heaven help the person who hasn't read the book trying to keep track of all the key elements in the storyline.

On the plus side the newest characters introduced in this episode were depicted in the movie much as I experienced them in the book. Luna Lovegood was very well done and well played despite not having sufficient time to really build the character. Jane Umbridge was also well done and exhibited all the expected character traits except I felt she wasn't sufficiently toad-like.

I enjoyed watching the movie but the book was a better and easier to understand version of the story.