Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Yes, it's Harry Potter Week here at the Teahouse, in which all things HP will be discussed, fawned over, wished for, worried about and otherwise geeked until Friday night at midnight, when the final book is released. At that point, all public activity will cease until I've had the chance to read through it at least once and then, well, we'll see...

So, first up is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, or HPOP, or HP5, or whatever else you might want to call it. I went and saw it yesterday and here are my first impressions:

I liked it. A lot. New director David Yates and new screenwriter Michael Goldenberg have risen to the challenge of adapting the longest book of the series and given us a movie that's worthy of the series, one that's pared to the bone and races along faster than Harry's broomstick. The returning actors are all outstanding - it's a joy to see the Dursley's again, for however brief a period - and the new casting choices, specifically Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, are wonderful.

The veteran cast reads like a who's who of British acting royalty and you do wish they could be given more to do, but ultimately it's the "kids" who bear the weight of this series and the good news is that Dan, Emma, Rupert and Matthew Lewis (as Neville) are more than up to the task.

There are quibbles, of course, but I'm not going to dwell on them now. If you're a Harry Potter fan and you haven't already seen it, what are you waiting for? If you're not a fan, go see it anyway and maybe you'll glean an inkling of what all the fuss is about. You won't understand a lot of it without knowing the books and the earlier movies, but you'll get enough, I think, to make you want to learn more.

And that's a start. Who knows, by the end of the week, you may be lining up with the rest of us - dress robes freshly pressed, wand at the ready - to buy the final book.