Choppy vignettes don't make a film

Rating: 3/10 (3 August 2016)

I used to like the HARRY POTTER movies and books – the first three at least. They were everything I expected from children's entertainment. Then the books started getting longer, it was obvious Rowling was only doing them for the money, and I personally believe they should have ended with the fourth book, as the last three add absolutely nothing to the storyline apart from extraneous detail. The same goes with the films.
The first two were fluffy entertainment, the third was my favourite and I hated the fourth because they'd changed so much. This film, the fifth in the series, is the worst yet, a total artistic failure. The reason is totally down to Rowling. The fifth book is overlong and bloated at nearly a thousand pages; much of what happens is totally irrelevant and utterly pointless. The filmmakers were left with the difficult decision of what to leave out and what to put in, and it's this choice that scuppers them.
We're left with a series of vignettes snipped from the pages. There are a couple of scenes here, a couple of scenes there, and the majority of the supporting cast members get about five lines. The likes of Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, David Thewlis, Robert Hardy, Richard Griffiths, Brendan Gleeson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Ralph Fiennes are all totally wasted in blink-and-you'll-miss-'em cameos. The central trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron are unappealing and face no character progression other than silly, goes-nowhere romance for Harry.
Two actors come out of this well – Gary Oldman seems to be enjoying himself as Sirius and Imelda Staunton is hissably evil as the new teacher – but other than them, nobody gets a chance here. The film looks pretty, for sure, and there's no faulting the special effects, but in the end this is a whole lot of sound and fury that signifies nothing. At the end, the story has progressed no further than it had at the beginning other than in a few minor points.