Wonderful...but I was still Disappointed

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2005)

OK, I am a HUGE harry potter fan - I go to the parties, I stay up for the new books/movies, I've read all the books over 40 times, I had a HP themed party for my 25 birthday...and I have always enjoyed myself. That didn't change with this movie - for the most part.
I was completely enthralled with almost every aspect of this film. The acting improves every time, the special effects were amazing, and - even knowing what was going to happen - I was on the edge of my seat for half of it. This movie is - to me - more than just worth seeing...it is one of the MUST SEE movies of the year (a comment that I don't say often). OK, that being said - I want to express some disappointments.
First off, I know that book four is huge, and as such it was almost impossible to fit everything in; but, even still, they cut some intricate parts that have me wondering how they are going to be able to tie together the fifth movie. There were no house elves, no SPEW, there was a huge hole with the whole Ron/Hermione/Victor issue - in fact, it seemed that she would go for Harry throughout the movie - and, on top of all that, Barty Crouch was just randomly dead...no explanation, no story line, nothing, we just saw him dead in a field - that was it. And those are just a few of the things they left out. My biggest objection however, was Gambon. I have mode always said that I didn't like Sir Gambon as DD, I never have - he just doesn't do it for me. But in this movie he was angry - almost violently so with Harry for most of the movie. That just ISN'T the DD that those of us who have read the books have come to know and love, and you end up losing some of the movie just trying to figure out why he is behaving that way.
However, all of that aside, whether you are a die hard HP fan like myself, or if you are just beginning to get into the books/movies, you must go see this movie! You won't be disappointed.