Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

New York Magazine David Edelstein

For all its portentousness, this is the best Harry Potter picture yet. In some ways, it improves on J.K. Rowling’s novel, which is punishingly protracted and builds to a climactic wand-off better seen than read.

New York Daily News Colin Bertram

It's action-packed, darker, more epic and thankfully schmaltz-free. And it's the best "Harry Potter" film yet.

Village Voice Scott Foundas

In narrative terms, not that much happens, but as for Harry's emotional journey--well, that's nearly epic.

Time Richard Corliss

Not just a ripping yarn but a powerful, poignant coming-of-age story.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The special effects continue to be masterful, but villains are given a new twist, and Order of the Phoenix is all the more fun because of it.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It will hook you good and keep you riveted.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

For those who have gotten their Harry Potter fix entirely through the cinematic incarnation, the script is lucid and fast-moving.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Yet, as good as it is in so many ways, there's no getting around the fact that this briefest Harry and first directed by an unknown filmmaker (David Yates) is the least substantial of the bunch.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The whole film is about innocence and experience, and if it isn't a Blakean song, it is a sturdy and vibrant piece of prose.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The flourishes don't answer the question most on Potterites' minds -- who lives, who dies? -- but they briefly stupefy.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and director David Yates have transformed J.K. Rowling's garrulous storytelling into something leaner, moodier and more compelling, that ticks with metronomic purpose as the story flits between psychological darkness and cartoonish slapstick.

Empire Helen O'Hara

It won't win new fans, but as Potter movies go, this is the most filmic of the lot, suspenseful and action-packed.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Timely metaphors abound in The Order of the Phoenix, but the story (of which there is much) stands on its own magical merits, dark and darker still though they may be.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Is there an admired British thespian who hasn't toiled in Potter's field?

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Harry comes through loud and clear as a conflicted, edgy, avid young man. He's turned into EveryTeen.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Destined to be remembered as the one that handed the screen Harry his first kiss. Like much of the film, the smooch comes and goes briskly, without a lot of fuss.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

Pheonix is smartly-constructed enough that non-acolytes interested in checking out Harry's world won't need too long to catch up.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Darker, leaner, less expansive , and meaner, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is all business, and it casts a spell utterly unlike the first four films.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Given a choice between this and the navel-gazing of the novel, I'll take the short ride on a fast machine.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The most amazing magic yet for the wildly popular franchise: It is genuinely engrossing.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

On balance, the filmmakers do a terrific job with one of the weaker stories. It's welcome news that Yates is coming back for one of the stronger ones; he's set to direct "Half-Blood Prince."

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

This is a gangly, confusing sprawl, and yet there are enough patches of beauty scattered throughout that it's impossible to reject it wholesale.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Considerably grimmer and grittier than the previous pictures.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A sleek, swift and exciting adaptation of J. K. Rowling’s longest novel to date.

Slate Dana Stevens

The movie is brisk and lively, if not exactly action-packed.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Save for the thrilling opening sequence, there's not much to remember about the film beyond Staunton (Vera Drake), who masks her bottomless malevolence behind a pasted-on patrician smile.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This fifth film should please fans who rate the films based on their fidelity to the canonical texts. But for the uninitiated, it's a dry and slightly dreary introduction to the world of Hogwarts and Azkaban.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Whatever happened to the delight and, if you'll excuse the term, the magic in the "Harry Potter" series? As the characters grow up, the stories grow, too, leaving the innocence behind and confusing us with plots so labyrinthine that it takes a Ph.D from Hogwarts to figure them out.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Standouts are Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's sly father-surrogate, and Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

Director David Yates, who is new to the Potter franchise, moves the story along briskly, at the expense of texture and nuance.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

"Phoenix" might go down as the problematic film, full of plot but little fun.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Taken as a motion picture, the new "Harry" comes up short. But taken as a visual aid to the experience of reading a book, the new "Harry" does its job.

Newsweek David Ansen

The storytelling seems occasionally disjointed, but more important, for all the special-effects wizardry, that touch of film magic never surfaces.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

There are lots of special effects, but sadly, no real magic.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Something of a letdown. Previous statements aside, I understand Warner Bros. has to set the table for "Half-Blood Prince" and "Deathly Hallows," but too much of Phoenix is filler. And with only two movies left, we better get to the main course in short order.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It finally can't transcend the limitations inherent in being no more than a way station in an epic journey, a journey whose cinematic conclusion is several years away.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Less magic also means less fun and discovery, as Harry battles depression and a hostile press; this is the bleakest Potter installment to date, and under David Yates's choppy direction, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, and David Thewlis have little more than walk-ons.