ith the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series, director David Yates (the fourth to lead this series) and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg (also new to the team) pack the door-stopping 900 pages of J.K. Rowling's wildly popular prose into a two-hour and 18-minute movie. This installment is darker, scarier and more intense than its predecessors, brimming with gritty performances and still manages to balance magical wonder with excitement.

Partly due to its intensity, the film is also better executed than the first four. But be forewarned; Order of the Phoenix doesn't waste any time recapping the long, involved Potter saga or the magical and muggle worlds, so this film isn't a good place to get your feet wet.

This time out, Harry (17-year Daniel Radcliffe, maturing into a performer of substance), after spending a long summer with his relatives back in the land of Muggles, returns for a new term at Hogwarts to discover his integrity in question. As he steps out of childhood and toward independence, he finds that his new teacher at Hogwart's doesn't trust him or his friends; he has been charged with using magic outside of school and is to be expelled from Hogwarts.

Worse, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), has appointed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, the unforgiving, dictatorial Professor Dolores Umbridge (Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton), a pink-clad villain who rules with an iron fist.