Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Reaction

A decent enough movie, not as epic or magical as the earlier ones. For example, the Hogwart's main hall was amazing in the first movie; here it seemed mundane. Also, the final Dumbledore-Voldemort scene went by too fast. I always imagined it being more epic and exciting. Sure, some shots are spectacular, such as the broom and thestral rides along the Thames by the houses of parliament, but the movie as a whole was missing something. Nonetheless, it does a serviceable job of moving the series forward.

I also felt like there wasn't as much going on as in the other movies. Perhaps that means they ceased trying to put every episode from the books into the movies. Perhaps that means less happened in the book. The imdb reviews claim (usually negatively) that it's the former. Many characters make only perfunctory appearances.

The kids' acting isn't very good. The adults' acting is fine. But then, we're not really at the movie for the acting. Still, some acting stood out: Snape (as always), Dolores Umbridge, and Luna Lovegood.