disappointing, for different reasons

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2005)

Many reviewers and message board users have mentioned that this movie was disappointing to avid fans of the books, and the defendants claim that the book had to be cut and we fans shouldn't expect for every little subplot to be mentioned. I felt, however, that the movie was disappointing *not* for what it left out, but for what it put into the film.
Newell can be excused for cutting many things, especially since he really did a laudable job of altering the plot in most places to fit the edits. What bothered me was the addition of longer sequences. The first task is beyond drawn out, especially since the whole idea in the book (and somehow also in the movie) was that he performed so ludicrously well on it that he wasn't worried about the second task until later.
Then there was the campiness. This should not have been a campy film.
But worst of all the offenses were the changes in characters' personalities. Dumbledore, like it or not, comes off as mean-spirited in this film, and pushes the line between roughness and assault. Ron comes off more as an idiot than just deeply jealous. Professor McGonagall is made a mockery. Then again, Professor Snape is almost... likable. There is something severely wrong with this.
Additionally, it lacks clarity of vision. Where the director chooses to leave out some minor bits of dialogue that would have made other parts of the movie more clearly relevant and understandable, he leaves in other parts that could have easily been removed, leaving the film feeling disjointed and, inexplicably given its running time, hurried.
My list of gripes goes on further, but these were the worst grievances done to fans, not only of the books but also of the movies. Far from the best movie of the series, it was still a decent enough movie if you avoid reading the book beforehand and can get over the fact that your eyes remain dry at the end.