a horrible movie with some nice parts

Rating: 3/10 (29 November 2005)

The first half hour of the movie was paced like a video clip, in which many parts had the only purpose to cite small excerpts of the first hundred-some pages of the book. The clips themselves had no connection, no harmony and, worst, they failed their sole purpose in deviating A LOT from the novel, interpreting some scenes in a, IMHO, doubtful way.
Later the movie improved because the pacing got better. However, the girls of Beaubaton are nothing short of awkward. The interplay between the three main characters (Harry, Hermione, Ron) was reduced to small scenes which lacked credibility (not blaming the actors but the script instead), there was almost no hint that the story takes place at a school, Fleur had no charisma, Krum was depicted a dumb sports-hero (which is wrong), etc.
Most of the special effects were just there for the effects not for the plot. Actually, they interrupted the plot several times instead of supporting it.
Prof. Dumbledore is completely misinterpreted. He lacks an aura of authority, he loses his temper, he seems even desperate in the scene in his office. I cannot get the slightest idea why this person should be the greatest wizard of his time.
Voldemort was quite OK, as was the scene at the cemetery, though even there the "great director" had to put in some artistic (mis)interpretations.
The movie had some strengths, however. There was some humor, the special effects were almost flawless (despite being used without sense), some acting was great (Radcliffe, Grint, Rickman, D. Smith), certain stretches had its harmony and made sense (even without knowing the novel).
All in all, I cannot see that the movie lives up to its hype, and if there was not the GREAT novel by J.K.Rowling, I guess it would not earn its production costs. However, they could produce anything remotely resembling the book and the people would still crowd the cinemas.
Conclusio: Script 1/10 stars, Directing 0/10 stars (please get rid of the director for the 5th movie).