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Newcomer David Yates lends an unrushed sophistication to Order of the Phoenix, the fifth installment in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The director expands upon what Mike Newell shuffled toward in The Goblet of Fire, building an uneasy rapport with the markedly morbid charms of Rowling's latter-day storytelling. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Yates' opening scene, set in Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) muggle "hometown": With its grassless patches of mud and cracked, brittle skyscape, it looks more like a location from Gummo than a push-button London suburb. The contrast succeeds in once again establishing Harry's opulent Hogwarts School — brimming with genuine friends and no shortage of doting dad/granddad types — as the only home he knows, a distinction that grows awkward once the higher-ups decide he's a liability. The titular organization, a secret society headed by Harry's godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), tells of Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) plans to drum up a massive army. But Harry's unwavering insistence that the Dark Lord has returned prompts the Ministry of Magic to do what any self-respecting governmental body dealing with criticism is wont to do — restrict personal freedoms and install a puppet administrator (a smilingly sadistic Imelda Staunton) to do its bidding. Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg succeeds in keeping Rowling's anti-big-government political bent intact, as the Ministry censors Hogwarts' class materials, cans teachers and smears the increasingly woebegone Harry via sensational newspaper headlines ("Potter = Plotter"); elegant special effects come to the fore once Harry decides to fight back on his own time. As is the case with any hyper-serialized film franchise, there are moments when the need for chronological backtracking forces lapses in flow, but the level of commitment from the young leads trumps any amount of reiterative drag. —Drew Lazor

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Official Site: www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com

Rating:	PG-13
Director:	David Yates
Cast:	Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman
Release Date:	July 11, 2007 (Nationwide)
Running Time:	138
Distributor:	Warner Bros. Pictures
Producer:	David Heyman, David Barron
Genre:	Action/Adventure, Drama, SciFi/Fantasy
Advisory:	for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images