Watch This: 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

138 minutes. Rated PG-13.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth movie in the franchise, is the best of the lot, so far. Directed by David Yates, a veteran of British TV who is also doing the next one, "Phoenix" is a sharp, exciting adaptation of J.K. Rowling's bulky novel.

It benefits not only from its paring down of the book, but also from the maturing of its young stars -- Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron) and Emma Watson (Hermione). There's also the usual who's who of accomplished British thespians who add some class.

Gone are the childish delights of owls and Quidditch -- though there are some high jinks and a bit of cuteness. They are replaced instead by the darker matters of coping with the horrors of adolescence, twisted political machinations of the wizard world (mostly seen in the sweetly evil new Professor of the Dark Arts Dolores Umbridge, played to perfection by Imelda Staunton) and the necromancy of Harry's archenemy, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), aided by a really scary-looking Helena Bonham Carter as the deranged Bellatrix Lestrange.

Indeed "Phoenix" often plays more like a grim fairy tale than a magical children's story. But Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg aren't trying to frighten anyone away. If the smartly shot film has any failings, they probably stem mostly from compressing the narrative, which makes it a bit disjointed. For those of us who have tolerated the cuteness, we welcome the series growing up.

The special-edition DVD set has the usual deleted scenes and an interactive segment, "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing," that allows you to learn about editing and to edit a five-minute scene. For us lazier types, a 43-minute featurette, "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter," narrated by actor Jason Isaacs, is an interesting look at the world behind the films.

-- Los Angeles Daily News