What's there is pretty good, but too much is not there

Rating: 5/10 (18 November 2005)

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter. I went to the opening midnight screening, and again this morning in order to see the film both in a huge crowd and a tiny one, as that often affects one's reaction to a film. Unfortunately, my reaction at both screenings was disappointment. I am not one that insists that a movie exactly match the book it is based on, but in this instance far, far too much is left out to make the film a great one.
What we do get to see is sketchy, but beautifully done. The special effects are incredible. The music is superb. The acting is, for the most part, very good. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Ron & Hermione are especially good. Lord Voldemort, when we finally get to see him toward the end of the film is all you could wish him to be, though his rebirth gets the same short shrift as everything else. The film has humor, action, budding romance, and some real thrills.
What it doesn't have is depth. Almost every single one of the nuances and subplots that, in the books, bring the Hogwart's world to exciting life are absent from the film. Major characters in the book are missing or minimized. Dumbledore is mostly reduced to an uncertain, weak old man. Snapes puts in a minimal appearance. Not enough is done with the Rita Skeeta character, house elves are non-existent as is the Hagrid/giant sub-plot--and the twins have no real reason to be in the film at all. Major plot devices, such as Mad-Eye Moody being supplanted by a polyjuice potion chugging Bertie Crouch Jr., whip by so fast your head spins. In fact, most of the stuff that did make it into the film is touched on only superficially. Overall, if you haven't read the book you won't know what is going on or why in too many scenes. For instance: the reason Hogwarts students were so ticked Harry's name came out of the goblet is glossed over (the film intimates it's because he's thought to have cheated, but no one got bent out of shape when the twins tried to cheat--the Hufflepuff angle is totally ignored); just why Ron is so angry at Harry; why Krum asks Hermione to the ball; why Voldermort's and Harry's wands react the way they do against each other and why the spirits come out of Voldemort's wand; why Mad Eye Moody was replaced; why Nevil Longbottom reacts the way he does to the Cruciatis Curse; etc. etc. etc. etc. In addition, Daniel Radcliffe's acting skills haven't matured along with him and he is outshone by just about everyone else in the film.
I came out of the film--both times!--with a sense of disappointment. The film is OK--but you can see where it could have been great.