In a word... TEDIOUS

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2002)

I haven't read any of the books, and was surprised to find the first Harry Potter movie quite charming, a real boost of beguiling holiday cheer... and expected the same from this one. Boy was I wrong. This movie was such a chore to get through, and empty parade of dull scenes and charmless special effects.
Another commentator has explained the parts of the book dropped--the character's motivations, for instance--in order to rush from one event to another and cram them all in. It sounds like it might have been an involving story, but my guess is the filmmakers were so desperate to include most memorable parts of the book (and stay under 3 hours) that the glue that connects the scenes together was dropped. I can only imagine how execrable the movies will be as we start getting into the 700+ page books.
What we end up with is a tedious exercise in which 30 seconds doesn't pass by without something appearing, disappearing, flying, melting, bursting into flame... etc. All that is different when you have to imagine it, but when it's just presented on a screen, it quickly becomes, you guessed it, tedious. It got to the point where I was surprised when Harry would turn a corner and something WASN'T waiting to pop out on the other side. Since there's no time left to develop characters, they just appear... minus their charm.
There is also absolutely no tension because every time Harry's in a scrape you know that some flying car or bird or wizard or elf is going to appear just in a nick of time, etc. The finale is just a end to the movie, there is no elevation in the rhythm or sense of accomplishment to what's been done, and certainly no anticipation of the next installment.
There is ONE moment in the film that got the glimmer of a reaction from me, a shot of spiders descending from a ceiling. By the way, this movie can be considered a kind of double feature, as once you've seen this movie you've also seen the only worthwhile aspects of "Eight-Legged Freaks." I am sure that we are looking at recycled special effects from that movie.
If Warner Bros was to call me and ask me what to do (it often happens) I would also tell them to go once every TWO years on these things, because already this is tired, and has a "didn't I just see this?" feel throughout. I wouldn't even wait for the video, but just skip it entirely. There is no possible way I could sit through this movie again.
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