Darker, better and grown-up!

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2007)

Being a hardcore Potter fan, in both books and on the big screen, I though 'Yates has got to put almost 900 hundred pages into 2 hours and 15 minutes' and i expected like the other films, it would just be a mediocre adaptation. Boy was I wrong! To begin with, Potter 5 was much darker. It pushed it to the borders of a 12 film and almost into a 15. You might think that's bad, but people love to be on the edge of their seat and love to be frightened and Potter does and immense job on that front. It's not just a mellow film with a scary climax, it's dark all the way through. Also, Radcliffe, Watson and Grint have grown up in their acting big time. The film is set in the period of the characters adolescence, the period in your life where you start to say 'I don't agree with that' and Radcliffe and the others don't fall short on that front. Oldman and Staunton also give great performances as Sirius Black and Dolores Umbridge, but Alan Rickman outclasses both on the sinister front, merely by raising an eyebrow, as his performance is truly the definition of sinister. Finally, there is more action, which keeps the viewer in suspense and keeps them interested. This time round, they also managed to cut out minor parts of the book, which doesn't leave out vital information, unlike the other versions. All in all, Potter 5 is a fantastic, dark and action packed film which is enjoyable for anyone and I recommend it, even if the other films have put you off.