With the fifth film less than two weeks away from being released, reviews are appearing all over the place online. Rather than posting about them all singularly, we will periodically update this article with them.
The Times - "The acting skills of Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have improved, but not enough to truly flesh out the characters and provide the narrative depth that this transitional, plot-advancing film needs."
The Hollywood Reporter - "When the series is finally completed, "Phoenix" may go down as the problematic film, full of plot but little fun."
The Daily Mail - "A comedy that is free of gross-out humour, and the first adventure blockbuster of this summer in which the special effects illuminate the story, rather than replace it. I enjoyed it a lot, and I believe you will too."
Variety - "Considerably grimmer and grittier than the previous pictures in the phenomenally successful series, this new entry finds the young charges' head-on collision with adolescence taking a backseat to their sober confrontation with unvarnished evil."
The Telegraph - "To dwell on a few weaknesses would be to neglect the obvious point - that Harry Potter is older, bigger and darker than ever. And no one would want to miss his journey."
The Guardian - "This is an overtly political film, with echoes of 1984, with the Ministry of Magic cast as Big Brother. Here, Harry embarks not so much on an adventure as a psychological journey - a lonely teen racked with indecision and conflicting loyalties ... until it matters. A Hamlet for our time? Probably not, but the darkest moments of Phoenix are a far cry from the comparative innocence of
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
The Sunday Mirror - "The film is impressively moody, brooding with bad omens, and while heavy on thrills and drama it has left behind childish schoolroom high-jinks and jolly japes."
The Observer - "It is Imelda Staunton's Dolores Umbridge who will, I predict, steal the show for audiences. She is like a poisonous strawberry cream in a dodgy box of assorted chocs. She is always, viciously, in the pink. Her twinkly eyes and kind-to-be-cruel smile are little masterpieces."
The Sun - "Under new director David Yates, Harry’s latest big-screen outing is darker in tone than the previous four but no scarier than
The Prisoner Of Azkaban."
IESB.net - "Whereas previous films have depicted good and evil as the polar opposites of black or white, ‘
The Order of the Phoenix’ travels a decidedly grey path throughout."
Evening Standard - "There aren't many surprises or scares here, nor even any major abracadabra set pieces until the very end. Devotees of the series, even as they sink once again into the comforting embrace of JK Rowling's world, may feel they've seen it all before."
Rolling Stone Magazine - "Order of the Phoenix, the best of the series so far, has the laughs, the jitters and the juice to make even nonbelievers wild about Harry."
Empire Online - "Much of the credit for the building tension goes to Staunton’s pathologically cheery character, a walking definition of justifiable homicide. But the stellar supporting cast all gleefully compete to steal scenes, to great effect."
Newsweek - "The storytelling seems occasionally disjointed, but more important, for all the special-effects wizardry, that touch of film magic never surfaces. There's fireworks and action and much swooshing about, but this interim installment seems stuck in one nightmarish gear."
Digital Spy - "The
Order Of The Phoenix gradually establishes an identity of its own, mainly thanks to a ball-breaking turn from Staunton as the deliciously despicable Umbridge. Smug, officious and kitted out in a disgusting powder-pink power suit, she rules the screen like a demonic Barbara Cartland."
Manchester Evening News - "WIDELY considered to be the weakest book in the seven-part odyssey of boy wizard Harry Potter, it seems somewhat fitting that the film version of The Order Of The Phoenix is, in some respects, the least satisfying instalment too."
MSNBC - "The new “Harry” turns out to be one of the best entries in the series — mostly because of a villain who is the scariest and funniest heavy to date."
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Order of the Phoenix online reviews 
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