My Least Favorite HP Book Was Loads Better than the Movie.

Rating: 6/10 (16 July 2007)

This Harry Potter movie was way too different from the other HP movies. I'm not sure who is the person that is the most to blame for this. It could be the director David Yates, who has never directed anything else that is recognizable. It could be the screenplaywright Michael Goldenberg, who is filling in for Steve Kloves, who is leaving this HP episode as the only one he's not screen writing. Or maybe J.K. Rowling herself, for writing books that are so varied in length, and for forcing the makers of the movies based on longer books to compress stuff and cut important stuff out.
One of my biggest complaints is that the shortest Harry Potter book turned out a movie that was still quite long. The second book was a bit longer, and the movie was a bit longer too. The third book was significantly longer, but the movie was significantly shorter. The fourth book was a lot longer, and the movie was only a bit longer. The fifth book is the longest of all, and the movie is the shortest of all. The first two movies, I predict, will always be my favorite two.
The third movie was the first time I was disappointed in a Potter movie, although I liked it a bit more the more I watched it. It had only one Quidditch match, the one in which Gryffindor loses, while both the other two in the book, in which Gryffindor wins, one of which is the Quidditch Final, were deleted. And it didn't mention the true identities of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, which irked me.
I heard long before the fourth movie was released that it would be two movies, which would have been good and also logical. But then I heard it would be a regular-length, single movie. The first nine chapters were covered in about ten minutes. There was no Quidditch in this one, but that was okay, because in the book, the Quidditch tournament was canceled for the Triwizard Tournament.
And now we have the fifth movie. The beginning was good. NO QUIDDITCH! although it's there in the book. Irked. Here's Dolores Umbridge, who is a downright, love-to-hate, bad witch. I hated her a lot more in the book, probably mainly because she bans Harry from a lifetime of Quidditch after a match. The fact that Ron and Hermione were prefects was not mentioned at all. Confused. A lot of the events were out of order, which was one thing that bothered me in the third movie, which I eventually mostly got over. I imagined being completely lost if I hadn't read the book. The plot, especially the climax, is significantly darker, but the movie is maybe a bit too dark, in maybe more disturbing a way than the book. The story, from beginning to end, was okay and a little bit redeeming, although it wasn't as enjoyable as the plots in the other books. The acting was good and okay, better than that in the fourth movie. Gary Oldman, who is a good actor, who plays Sirius Black, who didn't show up until the end of the third movie, who was only seen as ashes in a telefire and a voice narrating a letter in the fourth, was likable and an impressive actor in the fifth. Evanna Lynch, who is introduced as Luna Lovegood, was better than I imagined her in the book, although she didn't get to do everything she did in the book. Helena Bonham Carter was good as Bellatrix Lestrange, and whenever she appeared, it looked like a Tim Burton movie, which I'll say is a good thing.
The end credits didn't seem to fit. They looked like circus ad text.
Bring back John Williams! Nicholas Hooper was okay, and kind of kept the Harry Potter feel, but there was a moment in the end credits that screamed electric guitar, which wasn't pleasing to the ear.
It for a moment made me want to beg for a remake. But who knows how that would be possible? I only hope that I'll like this any more the more I watch it, like I did for the third.
6/10