Harry Potter and the Steaming Pile of....

Rating: 4/10 (22 November 2010)

Like the series of books upon which these films are based, the Harry Potter films continue to degenerate from their inception as a sometimes witty series of fantasy stories with mystery narratives into a character-oriented melodrama with a quest-based narrative. The formula becomes increasingly stale as we go on: will so-and-so find the object needed to unlock to the clue that is needed to unlock the horcrux or whatever the stupid thing is called to do.... something? Mix the tired narrative device with a story where one after another unimportant side characters are killed off and the audience is supposed to be stupefied with shock, and you have something that would really only appeal to fans and even at that the less demanding.
Where there are solid moments in this film is in the comedy and character interactions, which Yates handles well. I often found myself laughing when the film took a breather: Harry and Hermione's awkward dance, Ron's constant protestations which somehow still seem funny, and so on. But the action scenes were bewilderingly directed. There is an entire 2 or 3 minute sequence towards the end when the 3 of them are chased through the woods by death eaters, that has basically zero informational value in any single shot. It's just blurred shots and shots of something moving really fast and cut to somebody's face in terror for 0.5 seconds and so on. This contrasts very poorly with the few action scenes, like the following one in the Malfoy castle, where you can actually see the characters and understand the action.
The fact that the film has no ending is another annoying weakness, created by nothing more than the greed of the producers of this disappointing series. It becomes increasingly clear that the effort they put into the first bunch of films is just not there any more; their fish is hooked and they don't need to put out any more bait. The last few HP films have looked and felt cheap, like a cable TV movie with a slightly higher budget. Yates can do comedy but has no visual flair, and the actors are no longer developing or discovering their characters. It's sort of a routine now, for the movie makers and the audience. I can't say that I care for it but I'll finish the film series at least.