Impressive, but rushed.

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2005)

I like most people was excited at the prospect of watching the fourth adaptation of a Harry Potter novel.
I'd already read a detailed synopsis of the movie and even though a lot seemed to be missing from the book, I was still excited.
Now having seen the movie, I feel a little let down.
The acting is great, the younger cast are maturing well and I look forward to seeing them in the rest of the movies as i'm sure most other people are.
The effects are stunning and are worth every penny spent on them.
However, the story on the other hand....
I don't mind that there are whole plot lines missing, in fact in some cases I was happy they chose the right story lines to cut. There was no need to have any house elves in the film. The giant storyline was another pleasing omission.
But the story that was presented was rushed, It seems to have been squeezed in between the special effects and humour. Obviously the only reason anybody would want to see the film!?!?!!?
For instance, how can you have a senior minister found dead in the middle of the school forest and not pay much attention to it?.
Emma Watson (Hermione) was great when she was on screen, but seemed to only be there to play the big sister role, instead of having anything useful to do. Rupert Grint (Ron) was mainly there for comic effect. Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) was given very little to say, and what he did say wasn't very helpful to the story line.
And what happened to Barty Crouch Jr at the end? In the book he was killed by dementors, but in this movie?
I took someone who hadn't read the book and I had to explain the film as it didn't flow well or even tell the story that well. I'm sure it was all there, but unless you got every line being spoken it was easy to miss important points.
I've given a 7, though that was just due to great acting and effects. I can see me watching the DVD carefully once released to pick up on the subtlety of what was easy to miss first time around.
You won't regret seeing it, but compared to the other movies, there is far more attention needed to follow the story. Something a lot of people may have difficulty with.
Good luck with Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix.