Too rushed.... good fun but not memorable.... does not live up to the book

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2007)

The movie seemed rushed... too many details left out..... not too many important ones but still.... as someone who has read the book, I felt a little cheated as it seemed like too apparent an attempt to just make money riding on the Pottermania. A lot is left to assumption in the movie. THE CHARACTERS WERE TOO UNDER-DEVELOPED. Hell, Hermione and Ron looked like side-kicks.
Also, the movie lacked drama at the critical moments. In the book, the last scene is supposed to be colossal. Dumbledore and Voldemort fighting should have been the showpiece of the movie. Also, a line in the book says..... HARRY REALISED WHY DUMBLEDORE WAS THE ONE WHO HE EVER FEARED...... Michael Gambon looked freaking scared in the whole sequence. There was just no rage in the eyes, no authority. A real pity as the scene could have been so much more but just fell flat for me. All in all, an average movie. 6 out of ten, no more. Make a long movie, dammit. Look at the LOTR trilogy. The vision was so grand and well-executed there that length was never an issue. All movies ran in excess of three hours but were BRILLIANT. If they wanna save the franchise in cinemas, they need to get a bigger-ticket director with an eye for fantasy, otherwise the books would be hugely let down by the movies.
There are some movies that u enjoy while u see them and then there are some that u enjoy after u leave the theater. This one, sadly was only partially the first option.