Critics give their Hogwarts and all verdict after new Harry Potter premiere
THE magic is almost upon us again after the fifth Harry Potter blockbuster, The Order Of The Phoenix, had its world premiere in Japan this week.
There's less than two weeks before the film is released in the UK, although the European premiere takes place in London on Tuesday.
Already the first reviews are starting to leak out, faster than a leaky cauldron.
Writer J.K. Rowling lives in Edinburgh and the film is very English, with even a broom ride along the Thames in one scene. However Tokyo was chosen as the venue after another highly-anticipated sequel, Spider-Man 3, opened there and broke box-office records.
A Warner Brothers spokeswoman said there was no special reason for opting to launch the film in Japan.
But the country is the second-biggest generator of box-office sales outside America, accounting for 10 to 15 per cent of the total.
And last year, films made in Japan made more money than Hollywood-made films - the first time this has happened since 1985.
Also, the last Harry Potter movie, The Goblet Of Fire, grossed more than any other film in Japan last year.
Most of us will have to wait until July 13 to see The Order Of The Phoenix, but here is a taster with the very first reviews of the fifth Harry Potter movie from critics who got a sneak preview.
FROM JUSTIN MCCURRY, THE GUARDIAN
THE movie soon quickens the pulse.
Our hero is trapped in an underpass, pinned against the wall as Dementors attempt to snuff out their nemesis.
The crowd look on transfixed, safe in the knowledge they are the first to witness Harry Potter's latest dice with death. For large parts of this dark, political film, Harry can do nothing right as he attempts to persuade his doubters that Lord Voldemort, his parents' murderer, is back on the scene.
Imelda Staunton comes close to stealing the show as Dolores Umbridge, drafted in by the Ministry of Magic to keep tabs on Harry.
An invitation to her office holds the prospect of excruciating torture surrounded by pink cushions, as Umbridge, a sadistic mix of Barbaras Cartland and Castle, tries to thwart Harry's claims he has seen Voldemort.
It has become hackneyed to comment on Radcliffe's passage into adolescence, but in Phoenix it is about much more than a square jaw and a broken voice.
This is a political film, with echoes of 1984, and the Ministry of Magic cast as Big Brother. Harry embarks not so much on an adventure as a psychological journey - a lonely teen racked with indecision and conflicting loyalties ... until it matters.
A Hamlet for our time?
Probably not, but the darkest moments of Phoenix are a far cry from the comparative innocence of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone.
FROM LEO LEWIS, THE TIMES
IT is in this movie that Harry begins to understand the battles with evil that lie ahead.
It is a film where the balance of narrative tips from action to intrigue and there are some that will find it tedious.
The film itself is a solid, occasionally spectacular set-piece, that struggles to give us thrills and fun.
It is far crueller than its predecessors and begins to introduce the idea that we are no longer in an amusing magical playground, but are en route to a confrontation with real victims.
The main story is the quest of Harry and Dumbledore to persuade an uncomfortable wizarding world that Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), has returned.
The acting skills of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma Watson (Hermione) have improved, but not enough to truly flesh out the characters.
Of the adult actors, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge - Dumbledore's usurper at Hogwarts - is exquisitely dislikeable. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange is a shining but under-used talent.
The director, David Yates, has inserted some lovely touches, including the Weasley twins' explosive transfer from the world of academia to the world of retail.
But overall there is a shortage of those joyful little glimpses of the wizarding world's furniture that perked up the previous films.
The chief problem, though, is not really a fault of the film but the near universal Potter-literacy of its prospective audience. Most Potter fans are now focused on the release of the climactic seventh book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - in three weeks' time and its promise to bring together the countless loose ends.
As the waiting for the final book grows unbearable, there are moments when this otherwise enjoyable film, though nicely made and through no fault of its own, feels like a chore to wade through before the main course.
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