Though, this movie is the shortest(not by much), and happens to be the longest book, director David Yates, seems to have done an amazing job on this film. He is one of the only directors who actually read the book he is making a film out of, and he understands the main plot points. Also, Imelda Staunton seems to have done a great job as Professer Umbridge, which I concluded after watching a part of her speech at the beginning of the school year. It also seems like this film is much more true to the book than the others. Many of the 'creatures' are also in Order of the Phoenix, such as Kreacher, Grawp, and the thestrals, all of which look amazing. Overall, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix looks like the best Potter film yet.

I got my hands on tickets for an advance showing and just got back. The movie is very good. Far better than Goblet of Fire in my humble opinion. Sadly Dumbledore is still a bit of a bumbling fool (why do they do that?) but overall it's a good representation of the book. Obviously some plot-lines are seriously truncated (no Firenze, Marietta or Dobby at all, very little teenage angst over Cho and very little Grawp) to fit in the time. The movie felt short, they could have easily gone another 20 minutes or so and filled out more details. Umbridge wasn't nearly toad-like enough and was mostly wearing muggle old lady clothes--where were the shocking pink robes? Luna was a riot. Bellatrix was sufficiently nasty and deranged. Tonks was a bit of a disappointment as was Grimmauld Place. The nightmares with flashes of Voldemort's thoughts were choppy (more than was necessary) and will be confusing to anyone who sees it that hasn't read the book (is there anyone out there who hasn't?). Enjoy!

Anyone who can call the HP series "mediocre" is unenlightened. Given the amount of money JKR has pulled in from this and her other stories proves how many people like it, and if you disagree then your definition of what is good is probably equivalent to most people's definition of SUCK. Sorry, but whatever novel you cited that most people have never heard of is probably retarded crap that you only appreciate, because you are using the fact that you have no friends as a veil of intellectual elitism behind which you hide despite the fact that you have no intelligence to justify it.

I was fortunate enough to attend an advance screening of this movie promoted by MySpace. It's AWESOME - I loved it; had a blast. This movie is, of course, a must see for any real Harry Potter fan. Little Danny boy is growing up . . . . .