Poster art for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

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Avg. Critic Score: 71 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
12 OK for kids 12+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It will hook you good and keep you riveted. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The special effects continue to be masterful, but villains are given a new twist, and Order of the Phoenix is all the more fun because of it. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The flourishes don't answer the question most on Potterites' minds -- who lives, who dies? -- but they briefly stupefy. Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and director David Yates have transformed J.K. Rowling's garrulous storytelling into something leaner, moodier and more compelling, that ticks with metronomic purpose as the story flits between psychological darkness and cartoonish slapstick. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    A sleek, swift and exciting adaptation of J. K. Rowling's longest novel to date. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Considerably grimmer and grittier than the previous pictures. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Whatever happened to the delight and, if you'll excuse the term, the magic in the "Harry Potter" series? As the characters grow up, the stories grow, too, leaving the innocence behind and confusing us with plots so labyrinthine that it takes a Ph.D from Hogwarts to figure them out. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    "Phoenix" might go down as the problematic film, full of plot but little fun. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Taken as a motion picture, the new "Harry" comes up short. But taken as a visual aid to the experience of reading a book, the new "Harry" does its job. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    It finally can't transcend the limitations inherent in being no more than a way station in an epic journey, a journey whose cinematic conclusion is several years away. Read full review

View more reviews for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 12+ Riveting fifth movie finds Harry angry, brooding.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that even kids who can't read know about Harry Potter, and some kids who are too young for the content will want to see this fifth Potter movie (which is especially well timed, since the seventh -- and final! -- book hits bookstores July 21). As has been the case with each succeeding movie, as the central characters have gotten older and taken on bigger challenges, the themes darken, the danger becomes more intense, and the climatic battle scenes with "You Know Who" and his minions are downright frightening. Spoiler alert: There's a very upsetting (but bloodless) death of someone near and dear to Harry. As a result, he grows even more introspective and angry. At the very least, he does enjoy his first kiss (no spoiler to Potterheads), and Ron and Hermione continue their flirtatious bickering.
  • Families can talk about the movies' increasingly mature themes as Harry grows into a full-blown adolescent. Why is Harry so angry? Do you think Harry and his friends act and feel like real teenagers? Also, even though this movie and the last one are rated PG-13, they're heavily marketed to younger kids -- do you think that's OK, or are the later movies too scary for little kids? Potterheads: What parts of the book were best depicted in the film? What got left out that you would have included? What scenes included heavy foreshadowing of things to come?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Harry's friends bravely agree to practice defensive spells to help him ward off Voldemort and his evil cohorts. In particular, Ron and Hermione refuse to let Harry go up against 'You Know Who' alone. Harry, his friends, and the Order of the Phoenix members act in a courageous, selfless manner. The movie's key lessons are that it's your choices and the actions you take that define you and that friends, family, and love make you more powerful than even the strongest evil.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Scary images of Dementors, Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort. Angry centaurs drag a character away. Professor Umbridge severely punishes Hogwarts students using a method that feels a lot like torture. A character is attacked by a large snake, with somewhat bloody results. The depiction of the battle at the Department of Mysteries is intense, and one key character is killed (though not in a gory way). Harry is painfully inhabited by the Dark Lord; he is also very angry during much of the movie.
  • sex false0 Sex: Harry and Cho kiss; Ron and Hermione continue their thinly veiled flirtation through bickering and glancing at each other.
  • language false0 Language: The word "bloody."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: No product placements, but the film franchise includes a ton of merchandising deals, toys, and other tie-ins.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Harry and his friends meet in a run-down pub in Hogsmeade, but they don't drink anything.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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