Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.. spoilers!

Harry Potter 5 has been out for three days, and I'm a little ashamed to say I've seen it twice already. But, it's alright, I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem. Every year or so I launch into Harry Potter mania and for that few weeks I can't get enough interviews, pictures, newspaper reviews, ect....

But, I'm pleased to announce that this year it was very much worth the excitement. I think the fifth movie installment is by far on of the best. David Yates (the new director) did a spectacular job and I'm delighted that he'll be returning to do the sixth movie.

Although, I certainly agree with the critics who lamented that the plot moved far too quickly (after all, the fifth movie is the shortest of all the Potter films, yet Order of the Phoenix was one of the longest books), but generally I feel like the book-to-movie adaptation was superb.

Naturally some of the side-line stuff was cut out... like Ron and Hermione becoming Prefects, the whole Percy drama, Quiddich, Harry's disastrous Valentine's Day date with Cho, running into Lockhart and Neville at St. Mugos, and Ron being strangled to death by a brain at the Department of Mysteries. Admittedly, that was a bummer, but I felt that the main story of Harry creating Dumbledore's Army whilst having nightmares of long, narrow hallways, desperately trying to master Occulmency with Snape, and fighting through his feelings of hatred toward Dumbledore, and rising up against the thoroughly twisted Umbridge sustained the movie on its own.

Speaking of the devil... Umbridge herself was perfect. The actress who was cast nailed the role. Everything from her little girlish cough (hem, hem) to the revolting dishes with kittens on them littering her office was truly superb. Luna Lovegood was also cast perfectly. Her airy tone was ideal for conversing about Nargles, although, I would have loved it if she mentioned the Crumple-Horned Snorksack (or whatever it's called) once or twice.

The sets were spectacular, and the three main characters have made huge strides in their acting ability.

The death scene with Sirius was sad, of course, but I definitely feel like those who haven't read the Harry Potter books aren't as attached to Black as those who have. It was only in the very end of the third movie that we realized he wasn't a murderer, he wasn't even in the fourth, and fifth spent quite a lot of time trying to establish the closeness between Harry and Sirius. The death was done very well, and kudos to Dan Radcliffe for how well he played his grief.

Overall, I felt that the fifth movie was the best of the series. The dialogue between characters was probably the truest to the book and I didn't feel slighted at the end of it like I have in the past. And I loved the ending where Voldemort invades Harry's mind and Harry overcomes him by saying something like "YOU'RE the weak one. You'll never know love, or friendship. I feel sorry for you." That was fantastic.

See it, enjoy it... and try not to make too many comparisons to the book...