Feast or famine? A little of both.

Rating: 7/10 (11 July 2007)

Let me start by saying that book 5 of J.K. Rowling's is my least favorite of the wonderful Harry Potter series. It's too long, with too much run-on writing, and it seemed to me that she had to manipulate Harry's personality to make the plot work, so much so that it often came off as contrived. That being said, the movie has gone a long way toward trimming the fat, and improving on the meandering of the book's nearly 900 pages. I'd have to say that, plot-wise, I enjoyed this Harry Potter more than any of the others. The new non-CGI characters, Dolores Umbridge, and Luna Lovegood, are transferred from the page to the screen with near perfection by Imelda Staunton and Evanna Lynch, respectively.
Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg had his work cut out for him trying to preserve the essential elements of the book without disappointing his audience. The results are mixed. Some subplots are completely missing, yet there is still so much crammed into the 2 hour and 20 minute running time that any viewer who hasn't read the book will be at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding what's going on. For this reason, the editing is sometimes jumpy and disjointed. You have to depend on your knowledge of the book to fill in the gaps. The end result is, much like the first two movies, an exposition of the essential aspects of the book for fans, as opposed to a movie that generates its own drama. That being said, Mr. Goldenberg improved on the book in several respects. Harry's motivation's are more understandable, his relationship with his almost-girlfriend is carried off well. The battle in the Department of Mysteries is more believable and less protracted.
The cinematography is grittier, the colors less saturated. The director, David Yates, has a nice sense of how to use the camera, sometimes up close and with a hand-held quality to give the action a, dare I say it, edgy feel; other times in long sweeping shots to convey scope and space. This is particularly effective during the last third of the film.
This installment in the Harry Potter pantheon will please Ms. Rowling's loyal readers. If you are one of them, go see it. Now that I've had my fix, I can manage to wait for Book 7!