Disappointing my dear Potter.... disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (13 December 2005)

I'm probably one of the few people on this planet that's not bothered to read the telephone books posing as fantasy novels. So I've gone into each of the Potter movies expecting little other than to be entertained for a few hours, without any knowledge of the plot nor the surprises - expect it would be impossible not to know who's going to die in the next movie... but I digress.
I've not felt compelled to comment on the previous movies as I found them all thoroughly enjoyable, both on a story level and on an eye-candy level. Not totally mind blowing - but just good movies that was worth a chunk of my cinema budget.
This movie was definitely strong on the eye candy... totally delicious effects artwork. The dragons took my breath away, and some of the magic effects were stunning. But plot wise, I found it boring, contrived, and very "slapped together". The plot was so straight forward and predictable that I was scratching my head wondering where the playful plots had gone. The not-so-subtle introduction of attraction to the opposite gender I felt was tacky and unimaginative, the tension between Harry and Ron was bordering on laughable. The almost complete lack of subplots too made this movie far too shallow for my liking.
I felt the acting was flat too - which is odd given the far better performances in the previous movies, when the actors were younger and less experienced. I'm no movie expert, but I'd be pointing my cuss wand at the director and possibly their acting coaches for that.
Still... I felt the chunk of my movie budget was fairly applied - definitely worth seeing this on the big screen, albeit as disappointed in the result as I was. I hope the next movie is better done.