Fantastic, but not without some major mistakes

Rating: 8/10 (23 August 2012)

This movie is very fast-paced, thrilling, dark, and overall well-done. A lot of material needed to be fit into a short amount of time, and although it is fast-paced, it never seems like you're being left behind. Director David Yates also does an amazing job at making it feel a lot more mature--you can definitely tell that everything is starting to build upon itself.
As far as the acting goes, it should be no surprise by now that the Harry Potter movie always have great acting. Harry, Ron, and especially Hermione do a fantastic job while on the run-- you can the they stress, fear, sadness, love, and determination in their faces. The supporting cast is also very good, especially Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, and Rhys Ifans. Additionally, David O'Hara, Steffan Rhodri, and Sophie Thompson do really incredible jobs as Harry, Ron, and Hermione impersonating the Ministry officials they represent.
There are, however, some big mistakes in this film that I'm surprised J. K. Rowling, being a producer, let slip by. For one thing, the scene explaining how Voldemort's name is taboo was deleted, so the action over at Xeno's house can be a little confusing. Also, for some reason Dobby knocks out Pettigrew at Malfoy Manor, instead of having his hand choke him to death. This is a huge mistake, as Pettigrew owed his life to Harry, and, at least in the movies, never repays it. Lastly, the scenes with the Dursley's were cut extremely short--poor Fiona Shaw only has about five seconds of screen time, but a brilliant deleted scene. There are also a ton more smaller mistakes, but they are more understandable considering what they packed into the running-time.
What they did do right, however, was the telling of the Tale of the Three Brothers. The entire sequence is animated is a sort of shadowy two-dimensional formant, and it was simply fantastic. The whole concept behind that was really ingenious, and it was very well-done. Another positive is Alexandre Despalt's enthralling musical score, which perfectly suits the adventurous feeling of the movie.
So even though there were definitely some huge mistakes in this film, it is still a great lead-in to the final film, and definitely worth the watch. It never gets boring, as many people said, and at times it is even comical--I was entertained the whole way.