A good FILM, not just a good Potter

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2007)

Imagine Star Wars remade in the style of the X-Men, and you just about have it: a tense fantasy thriller with just the right balance of humour and action. For a night out at the cinema, it's a pleasant diversion. For a Harry Potter film, it's a miracle.
There are two advantages when the cast (and the audience) are more mature: you can show grittier and more complex subject matter, and you can have more nuanced direction. There are no pauses between gags or superfluous exposition - in fact, the well-observed jokes feel more like nervous humour and are nearly always the punctuation point between the next crisis or explosion.
The little orphan boy has matured well into an angry young man, and while the youngest - Emma Watson - still has a little way to go in terms of performance, the rest of the cast cope admirably with their increasingly demanding roles. Better yet, the screen time between the teens and adults is well-balanced, in the way that the aforementioned X-Men managed so well. The subtle winks and nods from Gary Oldman pack a punch as great as Daniel Radcliffe screaming "Look at me!" in another scene. On the subject of of punches, this is a movie in which a single hand-slap is more shocking than the explosive set-pieces and special effects.
It's been pointed out in reviews that Grawp is a misstep, but thankfully his screen time is kept brief and - like Kreacher - he is no Dobby. Every excess subplot (and even a few popular scenes) have been excised, leaving a lean and straightforward foil to the previous movies' labyrinthine stories.
If the first was cute, the second dreadful, the third good and the fourth a mere illustration, this fifth Potter is the first to hit all the right notes in all the right places. Now that they've finally got things right, I have high hopes for six and seven.