Great movie, poor book adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2007)

I think this movie was probably the best of the series yet. The acting was superb. The portrayals of Bellatrix Lestrange and Luna Lovegood were closer to perfect than anyone could sanely hope for. The special effects were riveting. The thestrals looked awesome, and Kreacher was sufficiently creepy. Yet sadly this movie also went farther from the book than any of its predecessors. Being the longest, most complex book I watched fully prepared for the removal of sub-plots and many scenes, but even so I was shocked and disappointed by many of the changes. 1. NO DOBBY. That makes two movies in a row where Dobby the house-elf has been written off. 2. NO FIRENZE. It was the Firenze's appointment as divination teacher that angered the centaur's. 3. NO SAINT MUNGO'S. They didn't even go to the hospital, which is where they meet Neville's parents and get to see Lockheart again. 4. NO PREFECTS. Ron and Hermione are made prefects this year and it would have been as simple as letting them be seen with badges on their uniforms to indicate this. 5. NO PEEVES! This is the movie in which Peeves plays his biggest role yet we don't even see him in a background shot. 6. NO QUIDDITCH! Not once does anyone even say the word quidditch. Even though this is the first year Ron gets on the team. Aside from these big omissions they also seem to cut short the Weasley twins grand exit, they cut the speech which is the best part, which is one of the things I was most looking forward to. They heavily downplayed the rivalry between McGonagall and Umbridge. And the had the students using spells they aren't even supposed to know until next year. Levi-Corpus was used multiple times and Harry learns that spell from the Half-Blood Prince. Not once did we get to see Sirius's mum or Buckbeak. So though it was a stupendous movie on its own, avid fans of the book will have to try hard not to be disappointed.