By JIM GENARO

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that my Harry Potter addiction is, at best, a mild one.
I have watched my friends and loved ones become intensely engrossed in the saga of the boy wizard and hero of Hogwartís School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have seen my wife consume entire books in a reading frenzy over the course of a weekend.

But I have chosen the path of moderation. Every year or so, when the newest cinematic installment comes out, I shell out my eight bucks and enjoy the Cliff-Notes version of the story ó complete with hours of beautiful CGI eye candy.

And my reason for bringing all this up is that I think oneís appreciation for the newest installment, ìHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,î will have much to do with the viewerís relationship to the overall story.

To give a quick summary, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is a student at Hogwartís, a secret boarding school in Scotland where young sorcerers learn such diverse arts as spell-casting, divination, the use of magical potions and Quidditch (flying broomstick competitions).

Harryís parents also were students at the school, but were killed when he was a baby by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who terrorized the school and its inhabitants for many years before he was apparently killed.

In this installment, however, Voldemort is back, a fact which is known only to Harry and a few others at the school, including Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

Meanwhile, officials within the Ministry of Magic ó the secret arm of Britainís government that oversees magical practices and supernatural beings ó are in denial about Voldemortís return.

Worse, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, believes that Dumbledore is vying for his position and has crafted the tale of Voldemortís return as a cover for his own efforts to seize power.
In an attempt to thwart any such coup, Fudge appoints his assistant, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), to a teaching position at the school with instructions to investigate the conduct of the school.

Stauntonís portrayal is one of the truly stellar performances in the film. She manages to fully embody the archetype of the saccharine, yet sadistic schoolteacher whom everyone hated in school.

The insidious little squeaks that punctuate her sentences have the ability to make oneís hairs stand on end and hands quiver in anticipation of a ruler being slapped on them (or, in her case, a magical pen cutting them).

What follows is a long, at times convoluted tale of Harry and his friendsí efforts to overthrow Umbridgeís tryannical rule and convince their fellow students that the threat of Voldemort is real.
There is much in this movie that works splendidly. The digital animation is, as one would expect, excellent. The soundtrack and the atmosphere are compelling and help to draw the viewer into the story.

There were some amusing and biting critiques of standardized testing. At one point Umbridge says that ìpassing examinations, after all, is what school is all about.î Apparently, the Ministry of Magic has its own No Wizard Left Behind Act.

And of course, the performances are generally very strong. Potterís sidekicks, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) continue to bring dynamism ó and a bit of sexual tension ó to the story.

There are also some newcomers who contribute much to the film. Evanna Lynch was downright adorable as the eccentric Luna Lovegood.

And Helena Bonham Carter, portraying the evil Bellatrix Lestrange, made brief but compelling appearances that played to her strengths as a gothic, deranged sumpervillain (though it was hard not to think of her in her role as Marla Singer in ìFight Club.)

Nonetheless, the film suffers from an excess of detail. It seemed like director David Yates was trying to fit too much into a two-hour movie. No doubt, diehard fans will complain about all that was left out of the film. But a more succinct editing job might have been in order.

The film tends to drag, with long stretches that seem to be setting up future films, more than supporting this one.

In general, this was the biggest problem of the Order of the Phoenix ó it felt more like an interlude in the series than a story itself. The film was beautiful, interesting enough, and ... a bit dull.
Also, the climax borrowed (one is tempted to say ìstoleî) too heavily from Luke Skywalkerís confrontation with the Dark Side in ìReturn of the Jedi.î

But overall, it was worth watching, if only as preparation for the more climactic tales that my friends tell me are yet to come.î

ï
Jim Genaro works at the Asheville Daily Planet.