Passable entertainment

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2002)

People have been saying this is better than the last instalment, and they're right. But it's still only average. I could write a small book on the stupid plot problems of this film (although many are also problems with the book). SPOILERS. If Harry has an invisibility cloak, why do he and Ron need to disguise themselves to get information out of anybody? Can't they just follow them around? If the first victim of the basilisk wasn't killed or injured (and it didn't even kill a squidding cat - I'm so scared), where did the blood which was painted on the wall come from? Why wasn't the phoenix affected by the basilisk's gaze, and wasn't it convenient when Tom Riddle TOLD Harry it had been blinded? Wasn't it great how Tom Riddle EXPLAINED everything to Harry? Convenient also how Harry was able to pull a sword we'd not previously been told about out of the hat - he'd have been completely screwed otherwise. Phew. How come no-one else could hear the basilisk hissing from the pipes if Harry could hear it well enough to understand?

And now a list: The basilisk was rubbish and looked too much like a snake. Dobby was irritating, although not as irritating as I expected. The Quidditch match was way OTT. The flying car/train action sequence was pointless. The phoenix looked CGI, as did the pixies. Yawn.
The acting was better this time (especially the child acting, although there were still problems). Kenneth Branaugh was great. Richard Harris was great as well, sooo much better than last time. None of the other veterans got time to do anything, although in a film this length that's a necessary sacrifice. The editing was much better near the beginning of the film, but then it went back to the slow pacing of the last instalment in order to cram everything in. I hope they paid John Cleese well for the day of acting in front of a green screen he must have done for his 10 or so seconds of screen time. The cinematography was much better (which helped a LOT), and although I've been whinging about the special effects, they were also better.
The script could have been much better. The direction was boring, as expected. Nevertheless, I liked it how they avoided the problem of the giant spider talking by just not showing it below the eyes - class! The ending, which other people have complained about, was for me probably the best part of the whole movie - it was hilarious! All those kids cheering Hagrid for (drum roll) HAVING BEEN SENT TO PRISON!!! And we've never seen Hagrid speak two words to any students except for Harry and his little gang. Whatever.

Kids will love it, for now. But these stories won't last - the problems with them just become so obvious with time. Sorry about that. Me, I'm looking forward to the Two Towers, which also features animated trees and a short elf-like semi-antagonist, but will have a story that makes sense. Funny how dispensable that is to many people.