Compelling tale, very refreshing movie

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2007)

The definitive review is back! Yes folks, here we are again, and once again i have to tell the story in 2 parts. First for the people who have read the book and the people who will just go watch the movie, but never read the book.
First for the people who have read the book. This movie was made just about as good as you can make it. Phoenix is the largest book in the series, and possibly the most boring read of all the books. i think the movie would have been better had it been 20 minutes longer. the scene i most wanted to see was omitted which was the scene in the book involving neville and his parents in the hospital. but aside from that they pretty much crammed just about everything in by performing 2 lines from each character on each page.
For the people who just will watch the movie. The tempo was nice, but felt a little rushed. the set design was good, and it is good to see the actors improve a little more each movie. ( i am thinking still that Emma Watson is still the strongest actor of the trio) the interaction between the rest of the cast is nice, however all the adult actors roles have been limited to small bits and pieces, the kids pretty much have the movie.
Overall, as a movie it was a B-, as a book to movie translation i give it a B- as well.