Entertainment, Movies - Navy Times

Fifth ‘Harry Potter’ film is a treat — for dedicated fans

The fifth big-screen adaptation of author J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful global franchise, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” makes clear that the carefree days of chasing the Golden Snitch around the Quidditch pitch are over for Harry and his pals.

Just as in other multichapter fantasy epics (“Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” and oh, what the heck, let’s throw in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” too), the forces of evil are gathering to battle the stalwart defenders of good.

And, as if that’s not enough, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is in puberty’s death grip, trying to sort out his hormones and avoid drooling too much during his first kiss, which he shares with a cute classmate (Katie Leung).

With a new director (David Yates) and new screenwriter (Michael Goldenberg) taking the reins in the film saga (coinciding with the release of the seventh and supposedly last book), we are rolling toward the endgame, when Harry will throw down in a showdown with “You Know Who,” aka “He Who Must Not Be Named,” aka the one, the only Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

The film opens with Harry in a spot of trouble with the Ministry of Magic for tossing off an especially powerful curse to ward off two soul-sucking Dementors. Why was this forbidden? Well, Harry’s still underage, you see.

The ministry — a riff on every dysfunctional, hack-filled bureaucracy in history — hauls Harry in for a hearing, where the top dog, Minister Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), is eager to bring down the hammer.

Harry is saved from expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry only by the fortuitous intervention of the school’s headmaster, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

We come to learn that Fudge has an ulterior motive for seeking to bury Harry — he refuses to believe the boy’s claims that Voldemort has returned and is preparing to attack. (If a reason for this head-in-the-sand act was offered, I didn’t catch it, but I’m sure a few dozen Potterheads will be more than happy to fill me in.)

The balance of the film involves Harry forming a secret army of classmates to prepare to battle Voldemort, in defiance of the minister and his parsimonious agent, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), sent to take control of and clamp down on Hogwarts.

As always, it’s easy to savor the rich production touches, even if most are CGI. An early sequence that has Harry and his cohorts go into a flying-broomstick wedge formation and zoom up the Thames is a visual gem.

Later, we meet a herd of centaurs, as well as a gentle, simple giant with an uncanny resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman, who turns out to be the brother of Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), the groundskeeper at Hogwarts.

But there’s no avoiding the fact that this film is merely a way station on a long road to somewhere else. Aside from two nifty but brief clashes near the end between Harry’s band and Voldemort’s minions, led by Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), it’s all buildup and no payoff.

There’s precious little interplay between Harry and his best pals, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), with Ron particularly shortchanged.

And while all the familiar faces are here — Gary Oldman as Sirius Black; Alan Rickman as Severus Snape; Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall; Emma Thompson as Sybil Trelawney; and so on, ad infinitum — most are no more than cameos.

Ah, well ... no matter; films like this are 100 percent bulletproof. If you’re a hardcore zealot with a replica broom and wand in your closet, you’ll swoon over every second of Harry’s latest exploits — and more power to you, I say.

But if you’re an oblivious Muggle who’s tempted to dive in cold just to see what the fuss is about, don’t bother — the Hogwarts Express has long since left the station.

2.5 stars. Rated PG-13 for mild violence and some intense images. Opened July 11.