A paradox, no doubt.

Rating: 5/10 (19 July 2007)

Longest book, shortest movie. Longest book, shortest movie. Longest book, shortest movie.
I kept going over that in my head before I went to see it. I did expect it to be a huge flop.
The first two Harry Potter films were done very well I think, cutting just little bits off here and there...but 3, 4, and 5 seemed like they have been hacked off of with an ax.
The main reason J.k. Rowling is considered such a great writer, is her patience in story telling. She shows Harry's everyday life, not just an overview. Since Chris Columbus stopped directing in the series, the movies have become even further and further away from the original vision.
I know that there was no control what-so-ever over Richard Harris's death, but there WAS control over the casting choice for the new Dumbledore. This has been done poorly. Richard Harris portrayed Dumbeldore in the best way possible - calm, rational, and ingenious. I cannot see any of this in Micheal Gambon. While he is a good actor, I do not think he could be farther away from fitting the role.
For some reason, the biggest thing I did not like about the 4th movie was the music/soundtrack. I thought John Williams had done a wonderful job on the first 3, but they apparently had gotten a new composer. The composer for the 5th movie did a surprisingly good job. I really liked the soundtrack for this film.
As I said before - its as if they took the movie and began hacking off pieces. It really does not feel as if they made an effort to live up to the book at all. "Longest book, shortest movie." They could have made it so much longer, providing the somewhat full "Harry Potter Experience."
Though I have to hand it to them - the scenes that they DID keep in, were well done and very accurate - as if they copied dialog directly from the book.
Overall, it's a good movie...but I recommend NOT reading the book if you haven't already, as it would completely ruin the movie.
Hopefully this has been helpful to you -darf :)