A bit rushed, but still fantastic

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2007)

My biggest complaint is that it felt too rushed. It did a great job of keeping everything that was needed and getting rid of all the excess, but I felt it needed time to slow down and breathe. This is especially noticeable at the end - the final battle is so well-done and so exciting that I wished it could have been longer. Sirius' death was also botched because it was too quick; there was no real emotional impact. The music is basically a non-factor - I noticed its absence more than its presence, especially because some scenes could have really used it in the background. And, as always, a lot of the characters get the shaft, but I've come to expect that.
All in all though, I was satisfied. The director was the thing I was most worried about going in, and it turned out to be one of the highlights. Yates is certainly no Cuaron, but he's right there alongside Newell in continuing the style that Azkaban started. The cinematography is simply astounding at times. The effects are truly amazing, especially Grawp (which was actually one of the few things I thought could have been cut). The final battle, as mentioned, was amazing, as everything combined to make a truly intense sequence. The Dumbledore/Voldemort fight was even moreso, as it simply lived up to the hype. The montages of Umbridge and the DA were very entertaining, and the news clippings were an inspired choice. It certainly had enough style.
The acting was impressive; the main trio was suitable, and the adults were all - as to be expected - fantastic. Oldman was as good as always, Fiennes was sufficiently evil, Carter was a perfect fit, Staunton was just as perfect, I could go on and on. The girl who played Luna was spot-on, and could have been the highlight of the cast, though. However, the girl playing Ginny was pretty weak; I'm not sure how they're gonna pull that off in the next film. Lupin was terribly underused, though (as it is in the books after Azkaban) and I wanted to see more Snape, McGonagall, Hagrid, but that's the way things go. On the whole, though, the entire ensemble was terrific.
As I said, though, my biggest problem was the pacing and, to a lesser extent, the story. I hope there's an extended edition, because there's a lot of scenes I thought could have been kept in, most noticeably the Hagrid sacking scene and the Christmas hospital scene. I'll cross my fingers for it, but I'm not expecting much.
It's a notch below PoA and GoF, but it's still up there with them. An extra half an hour or so would have done wonders, methinks. Still, though, it's incredibly intense and a suitable novel adaptation.