I still have not picked up any of the Harry Potter books so this review is solely on what I’ve watched in the theaters.

The cast and CGI continued to impress me with this film. With the addition of Dolores Umbridge as the new dark arts instructor, an older and much more mature trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, plus more of the Deatheaters and Lord Voldemort, The Order of the Phoenix definitely had me more involved with the character development and overall growth and changes in Harry Potter. The CGI was up to par with all the rest of the films, and I thought they did an excellent job with all the new creatures that were introduced.

The only part in the movie that actually disappointed me was the plot. Although I watched all three films prior to this, the plot still lost me at times, and from what I was told, it was due to the fact that much was left out from the book itself. I can’t really complain much more than this, and I guess not reading the books could have been a blessing in disguise because I’m pretty critical about IMPORTANT missing elements from story to screenplay.

Not anywhere close to my favorite movie of the summer (Transformers), Harry Potter is still a film worth looking at in theaters. The fact that “The Order of the Phoenix” is a little darker and more mature is definitely the reason it appealed to me more than its predecessors.

Synopsis:

Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts. He is desperate to get back to school to find out why his friends Ron and Hermione have been so secretive all summer. However, what Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down…

When a malicious Ministry of Magic employee takes the “cursed” Defense Against the Dark Arts position, she uses it as a point from which to usurp power away from Dumbledore. Harry engages in a personal battle with her while dreaming of a strange door at the end of a corridor which hides something that Voldemort wants desperately. To top it all off, Harry and friends must take their very difficult, very life-changing fifth-year tests: the OWL exams.

Unfortunately, this film will go down as another disappointing ending to a promising series. The Pirates of the Caribbean’s third installment was way too long and exhausting to be enjoyable. With the additions of more sub-plots and characters, the storyline was way to complex to absorb in one sitting.

I really miss the simplicity and humor of the original, “Curse of the Black Pearl“, and I was hoping for something similar for the finale. Instead I got the total opposite. The film was tangled up in a very complex storyline and its funny moments were very sparse considering its length.

Despite a very talented cast, the acting could not save this movie. Johnny Depp did all he could to salvage the film with some witty lines and gritty humor, but it did little to defend the overall integrity of the picture. The one bright spot in the entire film was the quality of the film’s CGI effects, but even that seemed to completely overwhelm the characters and plot.

Even with its huge budget, quality actors, and reputation as a fun family film, this movie fell very flat from being a summer blockbuster. I hope the Transformers can save this summer’s box office because Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean “At Worlds End” have certainly come up short.

Synopsis:

After Elizabeth, Will, and Captain Barbossa rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from the clutches of the Kraken, they must face their foes, Davey Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett. Beckett, now with control of Jones’ heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Delma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng, to a gathering that will make their final stand against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company.