Exactly how I hoped it would be!

Rating: 10/10 (11 July 2007)

Now, the fifth book was, by far, my favorite of the series, so expectations were somewhat high for the movie. I'm actually glad to say that I left with a smile on my face.
Again, Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson return as the trio of protagonists at Hogwarts, delivering average acting back to the screen. Rupert and Emma will definitely never win an Oscar anytime too soon, but Daniel is getting pretty good at portraying the infamous angst-filled Potter everyone complained about in the fifth book. He pulls off the character as a whole rather well.
The ensemble is amazing, as usual for a Harry potter film, but two new characters really stood out to me this time around: Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Imelda Staunton (Delores Umbridge). I was overjoyed to see my two favorite characters from the fifth book portrayed so perfectly. Umbridge is, by far, the most evil villain that has ever graced the Harry Potter screen. Audience members hated her so much, flicked her off whenever she was on screen, yelled out obscenities whenever she punished a Hogwarts student. That's the exact response I wanted her to get, because that's the response I gave her while reading the book! Kudos to Imelda for bringing to life one of the nastiest villains that we all love to despise. Evanna played Luna exactly how I hoped she would: that weird little girl who nobody would talk to because she's so weird, but has an amazing heart that's always in the right place. I'm really glad that they both pulled off their characters so well.
It is dark, definitely the darkest in the series so far, but there are many light-hearted moments (Harry talking to Ron and Hermione about his first kiss, for example). It follows the book exactly, which also relieved me. Sure, they cut some things out, but it hardly fazed me. The story flowed well and stuck as much to the original novel as it could've.
To me, this is how a Harry Potter movie should always be. Very, very well done. 10-10 stars for a Harry potter movie.