two thumbs down

Rating: 4/10 (11 July 2007)

I am the biggest Potter fan that I know, and i can honestly say that i HATED this movie. The acting was a touch better and the effects were up to their normal standard, but the complex, involved plot that the novel provides was completely butchered on screen. I do understand that they cannot include every detail of an 800+ page book, but certain obvious details, such as Lily Evans in Snape's memory, any mention of Neville's inclusion in the prophecy, the two-way mirror from Sirius, the locket in Grimmauld Place, Regulus Black...these details are important to future plots. They SHOULD make an appearance. The story doesn't make any sense without them. The memory itself, my favorite scene in all six books so far, is all of twenty seconds and the only characters you see clearly are James and Severus. Bellatrix says Avada Kedavra to kill Sirius. There is a reason JK Rowling did not specify the name of that jet of light that killed Sirius, and by putting the no-returns-possible Avada Kedavra on it squashes any sort of believable return from him in future. While still visually appealing, and though it hurts to type it, the film is, overall, terrible. You can't make excuses for the plot-moving details that were left on the cutting room floor.