Too rushed, missed the relationship element

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2005)

I only give this movie a 6 out of 10 because it has to do with the Harry Potter series which I am dedicated to. I really felt that the movie missed the balance between the heartfelt comforting scenes contrasted with the darker elements. The film was quite dark and harried throughout, any fun and happy scenes were drained out of it. It felt very edited at times kind of like the most recent disappointing Star Wars trilogy. Like that trilogy it lacked in genuine character development that was evident in the first three HP movies as well as in the books. HPGOF was my favorite HP book but this movie is by far my least favorite of the films. With all of that said, there are some nice elements and decent acting in general. I quite enjoyed the dragon scene in the triwizard tournament, it was really scary and exciting, as was the end of the movie. I just wish they had taken more time to build emotion rather than just going from one point to another. Even with Cedrick's death I wasn't really that moved, where as in the book it was quite startling. The film really needed to be made into two movies and SLOWEEEEDDD DOWWWNNN to do justice to the book. The other complaint I will say is the new Dumbledore really doesn't capture the character the way the original actor from Movie 1 and 2 did. The new Dumbledore is very aggressive and almost violent at times. From reading the books, I always thought Dumbledore had quite a bit more self control - he was wise and balanced not so hectic. All in all, the movie was entertaining despite my criticisms, certainly better than most of the crap that is released to theaters these days. Here's hoping the next film is better.