Not too shabby, not all that great

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2007)

I went to see this film today, and although i must congratulate David Yates on some good directing in some places, overall it felt to me as if i sat through 2 hours of nothing.
The cinematography I must say has certainly improved from the older films, and it felt a lot more "real" to me, especially in the first few things, and not only that but the special effects it has to be said, were spectacular.
A downside of the film though, is that it doesn't stand out as a film. If you haven't read the books, some parts may become completely lost on you, and there certainly isn't enough plot explanation. I feel as though the film brought nothing new that could not be gained from the book on its own, it didn't make anything "click" for me, which i didn't get in the books, and brought nothing new to the table, and although this sounds cliché, but the book is most definitely in this case better, and the film certainly went a way in ruining the book for me.
Not to continue slating the film, but at some points also, i truly had to cringe at some of the acting. In some places it felt very awkward, almost razored as if the actors hadn't truly grasped what was happening, although Rickman was superb as always, maintaining a character we have seen for 4 films already, and this will obviously be needed in the next film also.
One good point is that this film certainly contained a lot more laughs than the others, something i thought i would never see in the Harry Potter series, and although I personally do not think the feat of the film was truly accomplished, i would still suggest going to see it yourself, especially if you don't hold yourself as a large fan of the books.