HP 5 - The Best yet !

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2007)

I went through a lot of comments on IMDb & realized that most of the people who were disappointed with the film had one common reason to give - It did not match up to the book i.e Many important scenes were left out.
We need to understand here that the comparison between the book and the film is absolutely baseless, They are two different forms of media, and express the Plot in different ways. You can't pick a common scene from both say 'Oh ! Harry wasn't supposed to scratch his nose here !'. Agreed, The films are based on the books, but the interpretation cannot be the same. The books have been developed & conceived by JKR ( Who is no less than a magician herself ), and the movies have been conceived by various directors, There is no way that all of them can have the same perception. In fact, We should rather separate the films from the books and appreciate them both. I am an Avid HP Books reader myself, but I enjoy both ( Films & Books ) without trying to intermingle the two perceptions & draw out differences & comparisons.
I must also give a standing ovation to Yates, who did an absolutely stunning job of compressing the huge book into a film of 2 hours. Considering the ever-increasing number of pages with each passing book, I think Yates did a Fantastic Job of building his storyline, keeping the limited runtime in mind.
Coming to the Film, Why I say that it is the best yet is because it captures the basic raw emotion of the book & gets the message across very well, Which primarily is that Voldermort's powers are expanding & the Magical world is not safe anymore. There is a distinct difference between the fifth one & the previous films. There is no laughter, no fooling around, No considering Magic as an extra-ordinary thing. The Magical World has now been entangled in an inevitable war against the Dark Forces, and they have to face it.
Casting has been done fabulously, Helena Carter ( Bellatrix Lestrange ) was great. She had that uncanny & wild look to her, which is what Bellatrix is all about. Imelda Staunton ( Umbridge ) was fantastic again. She fits into the role of Umbridge so effortlessly, that you cannot imagine anyone but her while reading the book again. Gary Oldman ( Sirius Black ) is great as usual. Ralph Fiennes is the ONLY Voldermort. He is simply excellent.
The main cast have done a stupendous job. Daniel Radcliffe has molded himself into the role of Harry, He has improved beyond my expectations. The Anguish, hurt & Pain has been expressed wonderfully by him, which is clearly visible when Sirius dies. Emma Watson & Rupert Grint were awesome as Hermione & Ron.
The Visual effects were great as usual, The ending was climatic, specially the dual between Voldermort & Dumbledore. I was sitting with my hands tightly clutching the armrests in the Hall during the scene. The entire sequence in the Department of Mysteries is visually stunning.
In the end, Watch this film without expecting your perception of the book to come true. Since Books came out before films, it is inevitable that most of the people form a solid picture in their minds while reading, and disliking the film because one's perception wasn't displayed on screen, is not grounds enough to reject it, IMO. 10/10 from my side ! Both the Film & The Book Rock !