Entertaining, but it's not the book...

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2005)

I think, had I not read the books already (and, mind you, I read them all in between seeing HP3 and this film), I would have enjoyed the movie more. The special effects are as spectacular as one would expect, but there is no meat on these bones. All the major plot lines from the book are diluted or left entirely out of the movie. One can't expect a 6 hour movie, but it feels more like Cliff's Notes with a few major special effects sequences thrown in.
One more parting shot: Michael Gambon does a poor Albus Dumbledore. I don't know what happened to him between this and the last film, but in some scenes, he takes away from the stoic, greatest wizard ever aura that is tantamount to the character. He was an impostor.
So, all in all, it was entertaining, but it did not live up to the hype that is Harry Potter.