Harry P. in "Harry V" carries a weight of epic Shakespearean proportions on his thin adolescent shoulders. Not that J. K. Rowling rivals the Bard in the history of English literature, but Rowling's royalties and readership -- and the international industry based on them -- put Will's Harries to shame.

		"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" Director: David Yates Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Imelda Staunton, Gary Oldman Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

All the world's a stage, so let's set it: Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has had a rough summer. No more adolescent hijinks. Returning for his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is full of bad vibes and in dutch with the Ministry of Magic for using an out-of-bounds curse to fend off killer Dementors. Harry escapes expulsion thanks to the nick o' time intervention of dear old Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), but the Department of Homewizardland Security is in denial: They can't believe Voldemort is really back.

I can't either. Voldemort is like Wile E. Coyote. The more you pulverize him, the more he returns.

Anyway, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge takes control of Hogwarts and appoints Dolores Umbridge (Oscar-nominated Imelda Staunton) as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher -- the prickliest authority figure Harry has ever encountered. This rotund lady, clad in nauseous shades of pink, is a smarmy, smiling fanatic whose reign of terror imposes all sorts of tyrannical new rules.

Such is Dolores' color-coordinated villainy, even her tea and sugar are pink. She comes down hard on Harry & Co., punishes all real or imagined miscreants, and grabs power. In response, Harry is compelled to form a rebel movement to do battle with her while also reuniting with his godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman).

Harry, suffice to say, is overstressed. He has recurring nightmares of a strange room containing something desperately desired by Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), with whom he feels an increasingly and disturbingly strong Luke-Darth connection.

"I feel so angry all the time," he confides. Oh-oh. Shrink City. "You're not a bad person," comes the wise reply from Sirius. "You're a good person that bad things happen to."

Isn't that the title of a self-help book?

Never mind.

Overall, "Harry V" and its special effects seem more perfunctory than inspired -- typified by badly integrated pterodactyl-horses and a cheesily fake claymation-like giant -- leading up to the inevitable showdown between Harry and Voldemort. That climactic set-piece is terrific, however, staged in a huge storeroom full of glass globes containing prophecies -- Harry's globe being the one that Voldemort wants (and that his deranged servant Bellatrix Lestrange, played by Helena Bonham Carter, tries to help him get).

Best moments earlier: (#1) Harry and his pals take their tough OWL exams, sabotaged by the fabulous anarchic chaos of those fun-loving Weasley twins. (#2) Harry gets his first real screen kiss with beautiful Cho Chang.

Director David Yates, hitherto known only for his TV work (yet already engaged to direct the next Potter film) lacks original helmer Chris Columbus' playful sense of humor, not to mention subsequent Harry-helmers Alfonso Cuaron's visual acuity and Mike Newell's sense of suspense. Screenwriter and Carnegie Mellon graduate Michael Goldenberg (replacing Steve Kloves) condenses the longest of Rawlings' books (at 870 pages) into the shortest of all the films (139 minutes) in the series -- an achievement more meritorious of a Purple Heart than an Oscar.

This is the first "Potter" picture without a Quidditch match, which I hereby lament loudly. There is one beautiful shot early on of seven Hogswarts heroes taking off on their broomsticks for a nighttime ride over London, but that's it. No more. There is the wonderful touch of Umbridge's wall full of mounted cat plates (and moving cats). But not enough other fun stuff! Unlike the previous Potters, "Harry V" is a relatively conventional juvenile adventure story with minimal touches of magic here and there.

Radcliffe, however, is fine as usual . Staunton is the film's most entertaining new pleasure. But beloved Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) are criminally underused, while space-cadet newcomer Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) is detrimentally downplayed .

Tiny bits of Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Sybil Trelawney (Emma Thompson) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) seem like leftovers picked up from the cutting-room floor of "Harry I, II, III & IV." And Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) has little to do here until the end -- at which point, he does it brilliantly.

All in all, "Harry V" feels flat compared to the previous film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Yates' skill seems more suited to the tube than to a big-screen blockbuster (no point seeing "Phoenix" in an IMAX theater). And if you're new to the Potter world, you'll need to run down to the local video store to check out previous installments, or you'll be lost. Basically, "Harry V" is a build-up for the forthcoming confrontation(s) between Harry and Voldemort in the last two installments.

Speaking of which, the near simultaneous release of this fifth film and Rawling's seventh book pose some concern for Warner Bros. about overshadowing and overexposure of the franchise.

In more ways than one, is the magic wearing off?