I want my life back

Rating: 3/10 (27 November 2005)

What an absolute waste of 2.5 hours of my life. Let me get this out early, I do NOT fault JK Rowling for a bad story, quite the opposite. This movie had significant shoes to fill with the first 3 installments ranging from great to interesting, but this latest entry into the franchise was far and away a sub-par offering.
Okay, so what did I find wrong with it. Quite simply THIS MOVIE CAN NOT STAND ON ITS OWN. It should not be a pre-requisite to read the book prior to seeing the film. I don't want homework assigned to me to go and spend $18 for my wife and I to enjoy an evening at the movies. I walked into this film as someone who saw 1 and 2, and had high hopes for 4. Both of us were extremely dissatisfied.
I can excuse several issues that my wife could not get past. 1. The movie was too "dark". No, not content the actual lighting on many of the sequences was too dim to really make out what was happening (quidditch match, underwater, etc..) If the content is dark, you do not have to be literal and make the viewer feel as if they are wearing sunglasses during the film (I get it already, ooo danger all around). 2. The editing was horrible. In your face, fast panning, extreme closeups, etc. While I'm not expecting a beautiful Kurosawa film, how about some medium shots, let the visuals tell some of the story (and let me SEE the visuals (see #1)). 3. Dialogue. Here's a great idea, let's take some teenagers (who as a group tend to not have the clearest diction anyway, thank you Ron Weasley) and put multiple accents in the script so you are sure to miss at least 20% of the lines throughout the 2.5 hours. 4. Big Build-up, little return. Okay, so was the director capped by how long the film could be? He started off strong, lots of action with the wizard's cup scenes, but then at the end, guess what..we're gonna wrap it up in 5 minutes or less. I'm sorry, the ending seemed to be nothing more than a "tune in next time" bid for viewers to return for the 5th film instead of drawing conclusions to the film that we've already paid for. What about Voldemort? How did people celebrate the wizard's cup winner? these are just a couple of questions that don't even get addressed at the end..
I know I'm going to get flamed from a lot of people who love this movie, but I'm telling you my opinion. Without a frame of reference of having read the book, don't waste your time or money on this film. It's not our responsibility or problem that the book was 8 million pages long..make it a 3-hour film, have an ending, or make it a 2-part movie, something. The story should not be sacrificed, and in this case, it was. Truly a shame.