About halfway through "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" the beleaguered young wizard laments, "I'm not playing anymore." Indeed he isn't. And neither is this fifth and darkest installment of the unthinkably good franchise and the first not to be written by Steve Kloves. As good a job as Mr. Kloves did on the previous four adaptations, relative newcomer Michael Goldenberg does some fine work with the unenviable task of winnowing down J.K. Rowling's longest book. This is particularly true early in the film as Mr. Goldenberg sets up the political inner workings of the Ministry of Magic, whose paranoid leader Cornelius Fudge anxiously suppresses the rumor that Lord Voldemort has returned. Of course, Harry knows the truth all too well, having fought He Who Must Not Be Named (played here again by a freakishly noseless Ralph Fiennes) in a standoff at the end of the last film.
There's real magic in these "Harry Potter" films, but it's not the CGI wizardry, it's this powerful cast. Any other movie with such a who's-who of British acting royalty would be considered an achievement. But in the "Potter" series, it's become almost second nature. Brendan Gleeson, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis, Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson all reprise their roles, as does Michael Gambon as the venerable Albus Dumbledore. Gary Oldman does some great work as Sirius Black, Harry's beloved godfather. But its franchise newcomer Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake") who rules "Phoenix" with an iron hand as the overbearing Dolores Umbridge. Dolores is assigned by the Ministry of Magic to oversee Hogwarts and she does nothing short of instituting a full-scale, if you'll pardon the term, "witch hunt".
Made a virtual pariah by the rumor mill and a corrupt media, Harry is forced to take matters into his own hands. He and his partners in crime, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley (Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, growing up nicely), form a kind of underground resistance against a system gone mad. This isn't kid's stuff anymore. Daniel Radcliffe carries the weight of the series on his young shoulders with admirable skill. He's aging into more than just a kid with a scar on his forehead - he's becoming a fine actor in his own right. Things aren't all bad for Harry though. He shares a chaste smooch with love-interest Cho Chang (Katie Leung) and makes a loopy new friend in Luna Lovegood (an impressive Evanna Lynch).
Director David Yates takes the reigns of the series for the first time and puts his knack for political intrigue to good use (he's best known for the BBC series "State of Play"). For the sake of full disclosure, I'll admit that I haven't read "Phoenix" yet, but whatever Mr. Goldenberg cut, it rarely shows. Fans of the series will feel right at home as familiar characters come and go like old friends. Newcomers may be more troubled. Though there are still a few cutesy moments - most notably Hagrid's giant half-brother Grawp - which may remind viewers of those Chris Columbus-directed early entries, but for the most part "Phoenix" shakes off those childish things. This series isn't playing anymore.
