Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix

What's so surprising about this series is that it goes against one of the most steadfast rules of movie logic; that is with each successive sequel quality goes down. But in the case of this series the opposite is true. It has played on the obvious advantage of pre-established characters to embellish plot details and push lots of cinematic buttons. This fifth instalment does present some of the strongest material for adaptation, both in terms of a well handled, darker narrative and eye-popping action set pieces. British TV director David Yates has carved a very impressive name for himself with this, his first picture, and will hopefully build on it with an equally good following instalment for which he has already signed up. This stands up as the strongest in the series and a clear winner amongst the slew of summer sequels. [Jack McFarlane]