Wild about ‘Harry Potter’ No. 5

John Hartl Film critic

No. 5 in the Harry Potter film series, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” arrives at an odd moment —on the eve of the publication of  “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy phenomenon.

At first glance, it would appear that there’s something anticlimactic about the new film, partly because speculation about No. 7 has become semi-hysterical. No. 5 would seem to be old news before it opens. (No. 6,  “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” won’t arrive in theaters until late 2008.)

But the new “Harry” turns out to be one of the best entries in the series — mostly because of a villain who is the scariest and funniest heavy to date. The smugly nasty Professor Dolores Umbridge, who brings an especially ruthless form of McCarthyism to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is played by Imelda Staunton with a sense of glee that quickly becomes irresistible.

Quick facts Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman Director: David Yates Run time: 2 hours, 18 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13

Consistently dressed in headache-inducing pink outfits, Staunton’s shrewdly ambitious Umbridge simply takes over the school, manipulating the weaker officials, sending veteran teachers packing (Emma Thompson does a droll cameo as the most public victim) and challenging even the powerful Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

“I will have order!” becomes her cry.

In an astonishingly short time, she’s insisting that all school clubs be disbanded, that boy and girl students stay at least eight inches from each other, and that only she knows how and what to teach young wizards. This fundamentalist killjoy, who turns utterances like “severe” and “so silly of me” into chilling threats, has a soft spot only for cats, who are heard meowing from several surround speakers — provided your theater has Dolby digital.

An Oscar nominee for her performance as a doomed British abortionist in “Vera Drake,” Staunton might earn another Academy nod for this very different yet equally satisfying performance. If so, she’d be the first actor in the series to earn such recognition. You can’t help missing this monster when she’s not around.

Interactive Cast of characters Meet the major characters from the Harry Potter movies

While it reassembles most of the original cast, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” introduces a fresh behind-the-cameras team. David Yates, the new director, is best-known for his television work, including the Emmy-winning cable movie, “The Girl in the Café.” The new screenwriter, Michael Goldenberg, co-wrote the 1997 movie of Carl Sagan’s “Contact” and the 2003 remake of “Peter Pan.”

Rowling’s book is nearly 900 pages long, so the filmmakers have a lot of plot to deal with — some of it concerning a test of the integrity of the boy wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who claims to have encountered the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in the previous movie, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” When he’s temporarily expelled from Hogwarts, he can count on few allies; among them are his old pals, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).

Loyalty quickly becomes a major concern. Harry’s insistence that everyone’s threatened by the return of Voldemort (or “He Who Must Not Be Named”) turns the boy into a pariah. Persecuted by Umbridge, feeling “more alone than ever” and “angry all the time,” he grows up in a hurry, deciding to listen to his instincts and to act upon them.

As he reportedly demonstrated in a recent London stage production of “Equus,” Radcliffe is now more than ready for adult roles. The more isolated Harry becomes, the more soulful Radcliffe seems. As Harry grows less sure of himself, Radcliffe becomes more assured in his handling of the character’s complexities. He’s never seemed so vulnerable — and he’s never before suggested such authority.

Harry helps to form a group of an anti-Umbridge rebels who call themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” even though Dumbledore appears to greet them with indifference. Much of the story is driven by Harry’s self-doubt — and his fear that he and his fellow students can’t compete with the forces of darkness, which also include the venomous Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs).

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