Order of the Phoenix

Recently two new parts of the Harry Potter series have been released the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The fifth film took a darker turn as it starts with Harry still grieving over the death of, fellow Tri-Wizard competitor, Cedric at the end of the last film. As the longest book in the series I wondered how they would be able to fit it into a decent length that did not bore the audience. And, well, they managed to do it.
Although I did get bored reading the book 100 pages from the end and left it a year before I finished reading it, I did enjoy the film. Although it was darker it still had it's comic moments. As the cast got bigger, due to Dumbledore's Army, I felt that each of the cast members got the right amount of screen time. And with Harry, Ron and Hermione leading the film from it's dark opening to it's relieving yet still dark ending. As fans of the book and films have grown up with these characters it is good that they grown and become more evolved characters. This is a great film for all even if you don't read the books.
My rating: ***