Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
71
(37 sources)
71
(37 sources)
-
100
New York Magazine
For all its portentousness, this is the best Harry Potter picture yet. In some ways, it improves on J.K. Rowling's novel, which is punishingly protracted and builds to a climactic wand-off better seen than read. Read Full Review » -
100
New York Daily News
It's action-packed, darker, more epic and thankfully schmaltz-free. And it's the best "Harry Potter" film yet. Read Full Review » -
100
Village Voice
In narrative terms, not that much happens, but as for Harry's emotional journey--well, that's nearly epic. Read Full Review » -
90
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88
USA Today
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 » -
88
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88
ReelViews
For those who have gotten their Harry Potter fix entirely through the cinematic incarnation, the script is lucid and fast-moving. Read Full Review » -
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Yet, as good as it is in so many ways, there's no getting around the fact that this briefest Harry and first directed by an unknown filmmaker (David Yates) is the least substantial of the bunch. Read Full Review » -
83
Baltimore Sun
The whole film is about innocence and experience, and if it isn't a Blakean song, it is a sturdy and vibrant piece of prose. Read Full Review » -
83
Entertainment Weekly
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
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 » -
80
Empire
It won't win new fans, but as Potter movies go, this is the most filmic of the lot, suspenseful and action-packed. Read Full Review » -
78
Austin Chronicle
Timely metaphors abound in The Order of the Phoenix, but the story (of which there is much) stands on its own magical merits, dark and darker still though they may be. Read Full Review » -
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Is there an admired British thespian who hasn't toiled in Potter's field? Read Full Review » -
75
Christian Science Monitor
Harry comes through loud and clear as a conflicted, edgy, avid young man. He's turned into EveryTeen. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Tribune
Destined to be remembered as the one that handed the screen Harry his first kiss. Like much of the film, the smooch comes and goes briskly, without a lot of fuss. Read Full Review » -
75
Premiere
Pheonix is smartly-constructed enough that non-acolytes interested in checking out Harry's world won't need too long to catch up. Read Full Review » -
75
Boston Globe
Darker, leaner, less expansive , and meaner, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is all business, and it casts a spell utterly unlike the first four films. Read Full Review » -
75
Charlotte Observer
Given a choice between this and the navel-gazing of the novel, I'll take the short ride on a fast machine. Read Full Review » -
75
Miami Herald
The most amazing magic yet for the wildly popular franchise: It is genuinely engrossing. Read Full Review » -
75
Portland Oregonian
On balance, the filmmakers do a terrific job with one of the weaker stories. It's welcome news that Yates is coming back for one of the stronger ones; he's set to direct "Half-Blood Prince." Read Full Review » -
70
Salon.com
This is a gangly, confusing sprawl, and yet there are enough patches of beauty scattered throughout that it's impossible to reject it wholesale. Read Full Review » -
70
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70
The New York Times
A sleek, swift and exciting adaptation of J. K. Rowling's longest novel to date. Read Full Review » -
70
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67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Save for the thrilling opening sequence, there's not much to remember about the film beyond Staunton (Vera Drake), who masks her bottomless malevolence behind a pasted-on patrician smile. Read Full Review » -
63
TV Guide
This fifth film should please fans who rate the films based on their fidelity to the canonical texts. But for the uninitiated, it's a dry and slightly dreary introduction to the world of Hogwarts and Azkaban. Read Full Review » -
63
Chicago Sun-Times
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 » -
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Standouts are Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's sly father-surrogate, and Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge. Read Full Review » -
60
Wall Street Journal
Director David Yates, who is new to the Potter franchise, moves the story along briskly, at the expense of texture and nuance. Read Full Review » -
60
The Hollywood Reporter
"Phoenix" might go down as the problematic film, full of plot but little fun. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Chronicle
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
Newsweek
The storytelling seems occasionally disjointed, but more important, for all the special-effects wizardry, that touch of film magic never surfaces. Read Full Review » -
50
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50
Film Threat
Something of a letdown. Previous statements aside, I understand Warner Bros. has to set the table for "Half-Blood Prince" and "Deathly Hallows," but too much of Phoenix is filler. And with only two movies left, we better get to the main course in short order. Read Full Review » -
50
Los Angeles Times
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 » -
50
Chicago Reader
Less magic also means less fun and discovery, as Harry battles depression and a hostile press; this is the bleakest Potter installment to date, and under David Yates's choppy direction, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, and David Thewlis have little more than walk-ons. Read Full Review »
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