Does “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” Stand the Test of Time?
The fifth Harry Potter installment enlisted Dumbledore’s army of moviegoers to stupefy the box office. Does that militia still stand tall today? Hundred Tomatoes must not tell lies on this matter.
Disclaimer: For those who prefer the destination over the journey (there will be spoilers in this), you can scroll down to the very bottom to find the answer to this question, along with a “TL;DR” synopsis as to how we reached our verdict.
At some point in your life, you may stumble upon the following philosophically profound, yet persistently unanswered questions:
“What’s buried under Oak Island? What don’t they want you to find?”
“What happens in the Bermuda Triangle?”
“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
“What IS the deal with airline food?”
On second thought, that last one I can answer with ease. It boils down to money. Airlines want to nickel and dime their customers. It enables their greed as much as possible, allowing them to serve most passengers the lowest quality food, while successfully preventing potential lawsuits. That, and the altitude alters your taste buds (allegedly).
Those other questions, nonetheless, puzzle people as they go through the process of searching for explanations. Society can throw us some strange curveballs, regardless of the subject matter. As you read this, I can imagine some other enigmatic unsolvable mystery popped into your head, prompting you to want to go down some crazy rabbit hole for answers. Go ahead and do that for a bit then come back. This retrospective isn’t going anywhere.
Now that I gave you a chance to explore the most burning unanswered dilemma in your mind, the biggest conundrum I still cannot wrap my head around is the following question: How did “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, the fifth entry in the series out of seven, become the second highest grossing Harry Potter film of the 2000s next to “The Philosopher’s Stone”? It not only beat out the second, third and fourth renditions, but also narrowly squeaked out a victory against “The Half Blood Prince”, the one where (SPOILER ALERT: SKIP THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH IF SOMEHOW THIS WAS NEVER UNVEILED TO YOU OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST TWO DECADES) Snape kills Dumbledore.
Of course, it lost out to “The Deathly Hallows” parts one and two. However, those came out in the 2010s, rendering them completely irrelevant to this conversation.
Typically, franchises follow predictable box office patterns. In most cases, if the original entry does not gross the most, then sequel cashes in off its hype big time. We saw that with “Shrek”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy. Other times, the first one grosses the most, then the rest of them make progressively less mullah. Exceptions exist of course, but I cannot recall another instance where the fifth entry in the series (where it was not the final one) reignites moviegoers’ money spending passions for it. Maybe “Shrek 5” will buck this trend?
So how did this happen? Could it be because it came out around the time of the book’s release, thus creating a buzz that carried huge momentum into its theatrical debut?
On one hand, the release of “The Order of the Phoenix” prompted Potter fanatics to camp out overnight to get a copy of it. In fact, within the first twenty-flour hours, it sold five million copies and the same year it won the American Library Association Best Book Award for Young Adults. With that said, a four-year gap exists between the release of the book and this movie, which is about the same length as all the other release discrepancies.
Was there a huge delay in the release compared to the other “Harry Potter” films that in turn could build up additional hype for it?
No. In fact, “The Goblet of Fire” came out just two years prior.
Does it introduce brand new novelty characters that fire people up? Again… No… Unless Professor Delores Umbridge created a worldwide cult phenomenon I never knew about. Voldemort unveiled himself in “The Goblet of Fire” so the mystery evaporated on that front.
Did they market it in a way that separated it from the previous movies?
While they brought in new Director David Yates for this, at the time, he was not exactly Tarantino, Spielberg, Scorsese, or any of the other massively successful filmmakers who you could throw their name behind and make instant money from it.
An additional layer exists to all of this craziness: apparently, despite earning over nine hundred million dollars and becoming the seventh highest grossing film of the 2000s, Warner Bros studios claimed they LOST $167 million off this project. Either they are beyond incompetent at managing money, or some seriously shady accounting went down. My bet is on the latter.
I keep going down the checklist of all the possible explanations, none of which satisfy me. If you happen to figure out the answer to this burning question, please let me know, because…
Anyway, does “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” successfully enlist moviegoers into Dumbledore’s army, or does the dark lord stupefy them? Caretaker Filch’s cat Mrs. Norris is praying for an answer to this hardball question. Before delving into this rendition of the wizarding world, here is a magical synopsis to refresh your memory of the plot:
Now in his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry learns that many in the wizarding community do not know the truth of his encounter with Lord Voldemort. Cornelius Fudge, minister of Magic, appoints his toady, Dolores Umbridge, as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, for he fears that Professor Dumbledore will take his job. But her teaching is deficient and her methods, cruel, so Harry prepares a group of students to defend the school against a rising tide of evil.
Without further perspective, let’s get to this retrospective!
Often in the world of cinema, one Director leads the charge on the entirety of a series. Examples include Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy and Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Other times, it requires multiple visionaries to get a project over the finish line. In the sequel trilogy to “Star Wars”, they swapped between JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson, (much to the chagrin of angry fans), “The Fast and Furious” franchise currently gives credit to eight different Directors over the course of countless renditions and will likely hit double digits upon the release of their inevitable hundredth installment titled “101 Fast Furiousnesses”.
In the case of the Harry Potterverse, they started the first two films with Chris Columbus at the helm due to his passion for the series, and because he seemed well equipped to handle massive hordes of child actors given his experience with “Home Alone”. However, he burned out after the second one, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, thus bowing out of future considerations.
Then came Alfonso Cuaron for the third installment, “The Prisoner of Azkaban”. Initially, the studio extended him the offer because they liked his previous work, “Y Tu Mama Tambien” which they felt tonally fit their vision for future Potter flicks.
Funnily enough, unlike Chris Columbus, he did not feel passionate about the series initially. In fact, he never even read the books. But then, his mentor, legendary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro called him an “arrogant ahole” for being so dismissive of the opportunity. So, of course he took the role. They let him go afterwards because of creative differences. He wanted more control of the editing process of the movies, but the studio would have none of it.
Mike Newell took up the mantle for the next adaptation, “The Goblet of Fire”. His overarching vision behind Harry Potter, along with his cynical comments about children cannot help but make me laugh:
“I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel,” Newell said. “It’s my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists…just adults-in-waiting basically.”
They signed him on for one movie, then a parting of ways occurred. Nobody seems to know the exact reason, but some say it occurred due to creative differences. Newell to the contrary, claims he lost interest in the universe, and others allege he was a satanic pedophile part of the globalist elite seeking to usher in the New World Order. Admittedly, I made that last one up. You believed it for a second though, didn’t you?
By this point, Warner Bros. went back to the drawing board, looking for the fourth director out of five films. They decided to pass the baton onto David Yates, a relative unknown at the time who they felt could usher in a more “grown up” version of the series. Does his fresh set of eyes inject some new blood into it?
Right out the gate, regardless of if we agree on the question of whether this stands the test of time, I think we can all agree Dudley’s outfit here does not, and should be sentenced to the prison of Azkaban for eternity:
Immediately, you can tell “The Order of the Phoenix” means serious business. The overarching tone gets noticeably darker, especially in first few scenes, the characters act significantly less goofy, and weird slapstick humor takes a backseat for the most part. They sprinkle in some levity from time to time, but not to the extent of “The Philosopher’s Stone”.
Aesthetically, while the dreariness can create some wear and tear on the viewing experience, certain flashes of brilliance occur in the realms of the production design and costume design. More specifically, the hearing that occurs at the Ministry of Magic incorporates not only an elaborate setup heading into the building itself, but also a swath of uniforms from the jury that create a nice contrast with the environment. The archives near the end intrigue me, as do the forests, though unfortunately a lot of the settings and outfits blend in a forgettable fashion. I attribute this to an overreliance on regular street clothes for various outfits, along with dark colors that lack contrast in the locations.
The cinematography reaches new heights with this rendition. Several of the shots immerse me in a unique way, especially with how they zoom out on various settings, allowing viewers to admire all the work that goes into it. It brings the Ministry of Magic to life in grandiose fashion, along with the various other locations. The camerawork feel extremely purposeful, especially when trying to build up the suspense in the action sequences. The tracking shot with all the wizards shining light into the archives as they walk through it especially intrigues me. The hearing scene mentioned above also contains some beautiful reportage that brings out the best in the moment.
Score wise, “The Order of the Phoenix” still uses the same iconic riff that it does in previous films but contains some variance. I do not find the music in this to be as memorable as “The Philosopher’s Stone”, but it gets the job done, flowing with the tone of each scene reasonably well.
Visual effects improve leaps and bounds in this version compared to the others in the series. The spells seem to cast more naturally, allowing for better immersion into the action and the CGI does not look egregiously outdated. Scenes involving brooms also flow more naturally. Several effects show their age, especially in some of the confrontations near the end, but all things considered, a step in the right direction occurs here.
The aesthetics in this remind me of that coworker who usually shows up on time, does nothing egregious to antagonize anyone, but also never accomplishes anything particularly memorable. They are just kind of…. There.
Although much fewer glaring plot holes in this one stick out compared to “The Philosopher’s Stone”, the plot components contain their fair share of hits and misses.
On one hand, I enjoy the character arc behind Harry Potter in this one. We see him attempt to embrace a leadership role in the fight against the Dark Lord. Through that, he gets some key moments to mentor others. He also toughens up, learning how to handle his emotions better as Voldemort attempts to manipulate his mind. The epiphany he comes to distinguish himself from “he who shall not be named” regarding the importance of close relationships provides a wholesome note to end on. Aside from Harry, no other character undergoes any kind of intriguing transformation.
The commentary they attempt to make on power piques my interest a touch. The battle between Cornelius Fudge, who refuses to face the reality of Voldemort’s return, and Dumbledore, who understands the grave danger they all face, presents some unique food for thought on the way people confront potent threats. Some like to ignore it in hopes of keeping the peace amongst everyone, while others like to bring it to light so they can properly confront it.
This power dynamic chess match manifests itself through Professor Umbridge, who brings the “Karen” stereotype to life better than anything I can think of in recent memory. Her mere presence infuriates me, as she condescendingly chastises those around her in attempt to control everyone. The character nicely illustrates how those in power reactively create arbitrary rules that render people powerless to fend for themselves, whilst also scaring them into doing anything that could empower their learning experiences. They do this under the guise of a faux “moral superiority” that gets exposed once people get wise to the act. I enjoy the comeuppance she eventually receives, though how it happens concludes through slightly corny means.
The conclusion of the above battle of egos ultimately makes sense within the confines of the film. As a refresher, Cornelius Fudge just happens to see Lord Voldemort which leads to everyone eventually coming around to Dumbledore’s side. Unfortunately, this conclusion of everyone adhering to an objective truth does not ring true when examining modern society. People today tend to double or even triple down on the errors of their ways, even in times when witnessing contradictory evidence in front of their very eyes. An additional layer of gaslighting from Cornelius Fudge would make more sense when looking at this scenario from a contemporary lens.
Above all else, an overarching superficial nature between the various character interactions in “The Order of the Phoenix” prevents me from truly investing in the stakes at hand. Nothing that occurs throughout the course of the two hours plus runtime strikes me as particularly heartfelt. For example, Sirius Black, Harry’s Godfather, ends up getting killed by his cousin in a crazy turn of events, but at no point do I feel anything as it all occurs. We see a few scenes with the two of them together, but they behave more like acquaintances around one another as opposed to individuals sharing proper mentorship or connections together. They lay a little bit of groundwork in the previous films, but they leave a lot on the table in this regard.
The same goes for Lord Voldemort. He looks scary on the surface, but nothing about his presence aside from that intimidates me. At most, I get annoyed when I see Professor Umbridge sinking her claws into everyone, whose plot line keeps me watching more than the main villain’s. I can relate to witnessing malignant narcissists who attempt to create dumb rules to control everyone, but not murderous dark wizards who can go into other minds, manipulating their deepest thoughts.
Overall, negativity aside, I see marketable improvements in “The Order of The Phoenix” compared to previous movies in the Harry Potter universe. However, will that be enough in this retrospective? Let’s unveil the prophecy of Hundred Tomatoes pertaining to the question Mrs. Norris patiently waited for up until this point:
Does “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” Stand the Test of Time?
The Verdict: For the record, this is the toughest decision so far. It is a really close call, but my final answer is that it does not quite stand the test of time.
Hundred Tomatoes Score: 63/100
TL;DR Synopsis: A film that contains several elements of high quality, only to be undermined by the superficial nature of the plot development that prevents proper emotional investment in the stakes of it all.
In case you were wondering, here are the Top 10 Highest Grossing Films of the 2000s, and where Hundred Tomatoes stands of them. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is the seventh entry in this series
10. Shrek 2 – Yes, it stands the test of time for the most part - 76/100
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Unequivocally yes it stands the test of time – 92/100
8. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Barely does not stand the test of time – 63/100
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Aesthetically stands the test of time but not writing wise – 70/100
5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Does not stand the test of time – 51/100
4. The Dark Knight – 100% YES to standing the test of time – 94/100
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Aesthetically stands the test of time but not writing wise – 64/100
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
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