Choppy, choppy, choppy....

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 2005)

After the great achievement of The Prisoner of Azkaban, I had high hopes for the fourth book, my personal favorite in the series. However, after Alfonso Cuaron's wonderful directing and unique use of scene changes, I felt the fourth Harry Potter movie was just jumping from one thing to the next, without any kind of explanation or transition. I wonder how a person who hasn't read the book feels watching this movie. Would it even be that good? Or make sense? (There were a few times where I didn't quite understand what had happened, due to the choppiness of the movie!)
Of course the acting of the Hogwarts' kids has improved a lot since the first movie, I will say that. I did feel disappointed that the characters from the visiting schools did or said very little in the whole film. Even the Hogwarts' teachers had minor roles in this movie. And I find that I'm not the only one who thinks that Michael Gamdon's portrayal of Dumbledore is not quite right. He yells far too much, and doesn't give you that calm, I-will-think-and-try-to-solve-anything spirit that Dumbledore gives in the books.
Of course you can't fit the entire fourth Harry Potter book into one movie that's just under three hours, but I wish they would've taken greater care with both the script and the flow of the movie. Of course I'll buy the DVD in the future, but this movie doesn't merit another theater viewing! I just hope that the director of the next one, David Yates, does a better job...