New Harry Potter 5 trailer is smokin'

From CHUD, "I’ve not read any of the Harry Potter books even though I’ve seen all of the films (all of which I’ve enjoyed on a single viewing with no desire to see again except for the beauty that was Alfonso Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban), so I didn’t know what exactly to expect from the upcoming installment, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. From one look at the brand new international trailer, it looks as if this is finally when the fecal matter truly hits the old-fashioned air-conditioning.

In this new footage, they quickly establish the new character Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) as an insidious and formidable new menace for our heroes. Uber-baddie Voldemort is back in corporeal form, and looking sharp. Best of all, there’s a real rebel vibe here as Harry has to band together with a few of his similarly inexperienced classmates to take their fight against evil where it needs to go, even if that means breaking school rules and heading out into the real (Muggle) world. One thing that’s bugged me sometimes is the amount of help he gets from powerful staff and family members when going through his various ordeals. Now, it looks like the cord is being cut, which is a welcome development. All of the stakes have increased exponentially and the scope of this film is the biggest of the series yet. It’s instantly become one of my most anticipated movies this year.

The one catch is that to see the trailer now, you have to endure the proprietary AOL Video format as it’s currently housed at AOL UK. It’s proving to be a bastard for some machines and browsers, but my advice is to try this with the latest IE and be patient as it loads. Click here to give it a go. It's really worth it.

The film hits US theaters July 13.