Not as good as earlier episodes, go see Firefly instead

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2005)

Hmm, normally I do not write reviews of movies but once in a while I feel that I need to comment on movies.
Luckily I am at this moment in a country where they started showing movie 4 today!
If you are a fantasy freak you know the feeling of a book series. They start great and get you hooked, then as time progresses and the books continue the story gets dragged out in order for the writer or publisher to get more money. This is the case with Harry Potter both the books and the movies.
My opinion is that the first movie was quite nice, the second a bit less, the third I won't talk about it and the fourth, well you have to see for yourself but I think that it is a bit less than its predecessors. Unfortunately you keep on reading since you have to know how the story ends, do you?
This is part first of all because of directing and acting (we've done this before) and part of the story. Of course not everything in the book can be filmed that is not possible from a cost/revenue perspective. So corners need to be cut. Second the books themselves, as admitted by the writer herself some material got moved around the books which makes them less interesting as they progress (especially the last book which looks less like a story than something to tie loose ends with). This has its influence on the film.
I give it a 6 out of ten. The movie is OK if you have nothing better to do otherwise there are better movies out there, try firefly for example. I suspect that with the imminent release of King Kong the studio decided to make some quick bucks since I believe that when Mr. Jackson's latest effort comes out, Harry Potter and Co. do not stand a chance.