A job well done

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2005)

I was interested to see how on earth any writer & director was going to manage to condense such a large novel into 2 1/2 hours of film. I think they did a sterling job. They did the only thing possible and eliminated almost all of the sub plots paring the story down to its bare bones. I disagree that any who had not read the book would be left adrift. My son hasn't read it and found no fault with the continuity and enjoyed the film very much. As the story gets 'darker' in content with each new book I was not surprised at the 12a (UK) rating and wondered if the last one will have to be an 18! :) I have no complaints to make as there is no way that you can ever do a completely faithful version of a book. How can you when you are dealing with a completely different medium? Well done to all the cast and crew for a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Can't wait for the next one!