Potter movies getting better and better.

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2007)

I've not read any of the books. I wish to make that clear from the start of the review. The books didn't appeal to me when they first came out, but being a movie geek I have seen all the movies.
And for me, this is the best one yet.
The plot sees Harry Potter preparing the students for battle with Voldemort, while the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe he has returned.
The three main actors (Radcliffe, Grint, Watson) keep getting better with every movie. In this one Potter comes over as an angry teen, which isn't surprising given what he's been through so far, and Radcliffe does a good job. Grint is as funny at times as always but actually the best of the 3 is Watson. She has a bit more freedom here as Hermione, and some of her exchanges with Ron are quite funny.
The supporting cast are full of the usual cast, even if some have little to nothing to do, or say, but the best of them is Imelda Staunton as Delores Umbridge. The new Dark Arts teacher may look like a nice suburban housewife in her pink outfits, but behind the nice almost friendly outward appearance, is a truly unpleasant woman, and Staunton is good in the role.
The director David Yates does a good job as the latest director in the chair. He handles the action very impressively, but also handles the cast and story very well.
There are a couple of faults with the movie. The sub-plot over Harry's first kiss is dropped rather abruptly And I feel the scenes with Hagrid could have been cut. It is a long movie, and perhaps some brutal trimming in places would have helped. But overall these faults don't spoil the movie.
When the action kicks in in the climax of the movie, we get to see something that up till now, in the movies anyway, we've not seen. Some full blown magic in action. These scenes featuring Potter and his friends battling Voldemort's allies are very, very impressive, cumulating in a battle between between 2 full on wizards, that some have suggested rivals Yoda in action with a light-saber in Attack Of The Clones. Not sure I would go that far, but it is spectacular!!
I'm told that the books get darker as the series go on. If this standard of movie-making keeps going, then the movies will go from strength to strength.