David Yates is not Mike Newell. He’s not Alfonso Cuaron either. But he’s certainly not Chris Columbus. Yates’ installment on the Harry Potter franchise, H.P. and the Order of the Phoenix, has arrived and it couldn’t be any more different than what Chris Columbus presented to us in 2001 with the first Harry Potter film.
It’s plain to see that each of the listed directors have brought their own touch of creativity to the Harry Potter film franchise, but none have gone were David Yates has gone. Chris Columbus achieved his objective with flying colors, presenting a colorful, child pleasing wizarding world directly off the pages of the book. Then Alfonso Cuaron brought in a fresh, dark edge to Prisoner of Azkaban, and even then we could see that Harry Potter was evolving. Mike Newell stepped up next, and added new visuals to the franchise that had audiences gawking all the way to the tragic ending of Goblet of Fire. And at that point, Harry Potter moved to the next level, and that’s where David Yates steps in.
Everything about Order of the Phoenix is different. After just the first scene, you know you’re about to experience Harry Potter in a whole new way. It reminds me of how i felt when Prisoner of Azkaban began. I knew then that the franchise was taking the first step to a newer, darker, more mature world, and OotP takes us that much further.
There are many scenes, particularly early in the film, without music. It’s just the characters and their dialogue, something no previous Potter director has tried. The film moves quickly, starting with Harry’s painful summer conflicts before moving onto life at Hogwarts, where things are changing by the minute. But the best part of OotP is that the story doesn’t conclude at Hogwarts like it’s predecessors, but takes our characters to new places to face new obstacles. Obstacles much larger than dragons and mazes. It’s this next phase that Harry Potter has moved into that makes the film so much better than anything we’ve seen to date: life is no longer about quidditch or school, but about the battle between good and evil, where the difference between life and death is merely a jinx away. The wizarding world is at war again with Voldemort and his faithful death eaters. And to be honest, it’s much cooler than watching Harry chase a snitch.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the best Harry Potter film. That’s what you were wanting to know this whole time, and there it is. Fans of Harry Potter, whether it be strictly book fans or movie fans, will love this new installment. David Yates did a bloody good job, and fans will be overjoyed to know that he’s returning for Half-Blood Prince, the first director to double dip in Harry Potter world since Chris Columbus did the first and second films. So here it is, my verdict: go see Harry Potter, it’s well worth the ticket.
My grade: A-
