Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

That hint of darkness in the Harry Potter movies becomes full-blown gloom and doom in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth (and easily the nastiest) film of the franchise. The movies have gotten progressively darker and, as the children at the film’s center have moved into adolescence, it seems as if they are headed toward some sort of wizardry apocalypse. This chapter’s dark spirit is a far cry from the cinematic Disneyland that was the first installment. The kids are older now, and their adolescent angst is needed as thy must do battle with the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and, even worse, a truly lousy and mean new teacher (Imelda Staunton). Daniel Radcliffe is becoming quite the fine actor, as are his onscreen cohorts. Harry has a tough time in this movie, and things don’t look to be getting any better in future chapters. All the more fun for us.