fans of the books, beware

Rating: 5/10 (18 November 2005)

I found the special effects were just as fantastic as I expected, but I thought the music was a little overdone and sappy when it didn't have to be. The acting was a fantastic ensemble piece with each of the many main characters having several times when they come to the forefront. I did notice, however great the rest of the acting, that Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) at times was moving far too quickly and with too much alacrity to portray Dumbledore as old as the books make him sound. At one point he leaps rather quickly on to the platform where the teachers sit to go to his podium, and another time when agitated he sits and stands up very quickly. I also think it's a bit extreme when he shakes Harry because it seemed rather uncharacteristically physical and bordering on violent for him to do that. I thought that there were several loose ends left with the reduction of the subplots from the book, such as not seeing how Barty Crouch Jr. got out of Azkaban. The movie seemed a little too plot-driven at times and skipped out on the characterization of the new characters like Fleur and Krum. Some of the dialogue seemed rather stilted, but the ending duel, when Harry takes Cedric Diggory's body back, and Dumbledore's comments about Cedric's death were truly moving. Overall, I think that fans of the movies more than the books will like this better than those who truly love the books.