cool shots, lack of plots

Rating: 4/10 (22 March 2006)

First off let me say I'm probably reviewing this from a rather one sided point of view having read the books. The movie all together isn't bad for children but it has a severe lack of plot. It seems the director and producers decided to shove as much time and money as possible into visual effects and completely leave out the subplots and side stories that really help to build the characters. I was severely disappointed when I heard they were originally going to make this book into two movies. So many characters and important events have been left out. Most importantly, there is no set up for the rift between hogwart's and the ministry of magic, which nearly the entire point of the next in the series. At first I was worried as to how they will be fixing this in the next film but I suppose they wont have to if the goal is to rely on special effect and not good acting or writing. Hats off to Columbus, I hope he is headed back to the series. The only reason I don't give this a lower reason is because it IS intended for children, but as Harry grows, so do his readers, and the film industry needs to understand that by the end of this series they will need to tend to a much more mature audience. 4 out of 10