Disappointed is my general feeling, but there are some real charms in the movie!

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2005)

First, I will say that I am indeed a fan of the books (almost to obsession) and of course, that will taint anyone's view of a movie. Stories written for books just don't translate to the screen in the same way, but that doesn't make the movie bad, just different.
It would have been a challenge to anyone to get everything in the book onto the screen. There is just A WHOLE LOT going on in this story (and I'm sure we will have the same problem with the remaining films).
My biggest complaint is that the movie seemed to just jump from one thing to another without any explanation as to why it was there. I would guess that if you haven't read the book, you might be thinking "what on earth is going on?" However, if you haven't read the book, you might also be blessed with not knowing what is missing.
The scenery in the movie was beautiful! And the "randy" Moaning Myrtle was hysterical. The effect of Fleur on Ron, was also fantastic! The dragons were amazing and I was VERY impressed with Harry's gilleyweed transformation.
Then there is Voldemort. Ralph Fiennes was fantastic! The make-up was perfect. He looked snake-like, he was grandiose, and scary. The entire scene in the graveyard was wonderful. Almost exactly as I had pictured it from reading the book. It was spooky and true to J.K. Rowling's version! I felt like the Director did a great job with being true to the book in this movie, he just had so much to work with that he couldn't put it all in. He did a bad job with transitioning between the things that he decided to include (a really bad job).
All in all, I was disappointed. However, I was worried how it would all go into the movie, so I'm not surprised that it didn't go well. I can complain, but I have no idea how to "fix" it. Visually, the movie was beautiful. Still worth seeing, just go in with a reduced expectation and you won't be disappointed!