Mediocre

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2007)

I saw the midnight showing the first day it came out. Looking back, I have the feeling that the movie was better than it was because 3/4ths of the audience was overly tired and would have seen the movie if it filmed the title character taking a crap in the loo for two hours. The movie is very dark (literally AND figuratively...lots of scenes with dark interiors and clouds produce a moody ambiance that at least gets the point of the film across), so it's not the most fun of the previous four. And Hary is just...irritating. I understand the boy is going through a load of hormonal and emotional changes, but couldn't Daniel Radcliffe bother to SMILE ONCE? At least the veteran actors are entertaining (Alan Rickman has about ten lines and the man is still GOD), although I wish Imelda Staunton could have had a little more fun with Umbridge. That seems to be the bottom line...the entire movie and it's components are are burdened with its dark mood, and much of the magic is lost.