Order of the Phoenix was always the weakest of the Potter books: overly-long, awkwardly-paced, and rooted in social satire, that, while doubtless relevant to Rowling's British readers, was largely opaque to those of us on this side of the pond. The political machinations at the Ministry of Magic always struck me as tedious and, well, not very magical. (Someone's trying to discredit Harry and Dumbledore? What, again? Aren't these guys supposed to be legends?) And, worse, throughout the book, Harry came off as angry, brooding, and not very fun to be with. In the hands of a better author, he would have been sympathetic despite his pain, but Rowling has never handled deep emotion well, and thus the novel becomes a showcase for her writing weaknesses: her over-reliance on adverbs and tendency to use ALL CAPS to indicate anger leap to mind.

But the film vastly improves upon the book, cutting out the bloat and replacing flaccid stretches of exposition with swift, efficient storytelling. In particular the Ministry of Magic scenes are redeemed: now the place exudes bureaucratic menace, à la Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985). The tyranny of the state becomes an overarching theme, personified by Ministry-sanctioned Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge (a pitch-perfect Imelda Staunton). Umbridge's prissy pink suits and mewing kitten plates mask her obsession with order and control. Step by step, she takes over Hogwarts, chipping away at students' freedoms until the school resembles something out of 1984.

Against this backdrop, Rowling's trademark whimsy and good humor come across as redemptive. In one telling scene (which I did not even remember from the novel), Fred and George Weasley bust up the OWL exams with fireworks and general merriment before leaving the school for good. Bits of magic, like the moving paintings and enchanted spoons that stir all by themselves, occur in the background of many scenes, "ordinary" to these wizards but marvelous to us Muggles viewing the film. It's little touches like these that reveal the filmmakers' investment in this world and their commitment to making it believable.

The combined efforts of the scriptwriters (who wisely cut Harry's awkward romance with Cho Chang and the kids' worries over the OWL exams down to a minimum) and the actors spare us the relentless teenage angst of the novel. Daniel Radcliffe, bland in the previous films, here comes into his own as an actor. Despite distractingly looking like he's about 24, Radcliffe handles Harry with subtlety and depth. He delivers lines that easily could have been mawkish, such as telling Voldemort, "You'll never know love or friendship. I feel sorry for you," with genuine emotion. The end result is that such lines never feel tacked on to provide the movie with a moral, but are seamlessly integrated into the film.

Excellent in smaller roles are Helena Bonham Carter as the manic, wide-eyed Bellatrix Lestrange, a character I barely took notice of in the novel, and Natalia Tena as young Goth witch Nymphadora Tonks. Alan Rickman is, to no one's surprise, deliciously menacing as Snape, his voice purring around every syllable of his lines.

What's more, the movie looks great. A multitude of mature and surprising images delight the eye: Harry and the Aurors streaking over a moonlit Thames on their broomsticks, with the lights of Parliament for a backdrop; the eerie, parched, abandoned playground where Dudley taunts Harry; cascades of crystal balls shattering in the Department of Mysteries.

The film does have its weaknesses. The final battle is often confusing, with too many characters appearing--deus ex machina fashion--to save someone in the nick of time. And Harry's struggle with his darker impulses owes a little too much to Star Wars. But, on the whole, The Order of the Phoenix is a fine addition to the Potter canon.