Disappointed

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2007)

I am so strongly disappointed at this movie that I can't even bear in words. Although I had expected this, as no previous movie was any match to the real book, I really wanted more.
I went to see it with my boyfriend, to whom I've bee praising the books for a few years now and he still thinks I'm coo-coo because none of the movies proved the contrary. I know it's hard to fit a huge book into a couple of hours of a movie, that's why it was all so fast, so confusing, so full of details that were presented too fast as to really take them in. Even my boyfriend, who hasn't read the books, said that he felt missing details everywhere.
What I love and always have loved about the books is that neither Harry nor any of his friends were really that omniscient. They all discovered things as they went and we discovered them alongside them. As the movie is concerned, however, I  a book reader  felt so much like an outsider that I can only imagine how the non-readers felt. It's like every character knew all that was going around but none of them was taking the time to explain it to us, watchers. As an example: the family link between Sirius, Nymphadora, Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange seemed quite important to me. Yet it's not mentioned even briefly in the movie, although Harry and Sirius do carry a conversation regarding Sirius' family tree. Friends have asked me who was the hot, purple haired lass or the hysterical dark haired witch who sends Sirius through the arch thingy. This means that people didn't really get the important ideas. Firenze, the centaur was left out, all the awesome rooms of the Ministry were discarded, the Death Arch wasn't well explained, the Order facing the Death Eaters was a very confusing scene and regarding the prophecy I think they should have told who made it. And I also think they should have focused on the most important aspect, which was not the fact the "neither can live while the other survives" but the fact that Harry is a marked man, because Voldemort himself marked him as his equal.
Also I didn't feel any emotional links at all between the characters. There's plenty of seemingly pointless action and facts, people doing things for unexplainable reasons, special effects, but no feeling whatsoever. I didn't understand from the movie why Harry was so upset at Ron and Hermione for not sending him news, I didn't understand clearly why Dumbledore acted as he did, Kreacher's part was also discarded as well as Harry's confusion and disappointment at his teenage father, after peaking into Snape's memories. Harry didn't seem at all shattered after Sirius' death, they never highlighted how much Sirius meant ho Harry and they never said that Sirius left him Twelve, Grimmauld's Place as heirloom. Harry didn't seem at all troubled that he had such a huge responsibility on his shoulders, that he was not a regular boy but one with a huge mission to accomplish. Also the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore, in the end, was far less revealing. I missed Dumbledore's kind, fatherly attitude, I missed him telling Harry that he kept the truth away from him only to protect him, that he didn't want to burden his youth with such a horrible truth. And, most of all, I missed that heartbreaking moment when Dumbledore tells Harry, with tears in his eyes, that he never thought he's have such a wonderful person in his care. The immense link between Harry and his headmaster is barely noticeable.
This reminded me of the "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" movie, where the amazing friendship of James Potter and his school friends is presented in a terribly hasty, laconic manner that really doesn't do justice to the whole story and that doesn't let any of the strong emotions break through to the viewers.
Overall, this movie shouldn't only be intended for people who have read the book and already know the facts. Everyone should be able to understand what it's all about and should be able to enjoy the full thrills of the story. And even for those who have read the books, it's quite disappointing. It's too bad, because the actors were very well chosen (although I preferred Richard Harris as Dumbledore, by far, God rest his soul) and they deserved a better movie.