Focuses more on conflicts than characters

Rating: 6/10 (25 July 2007)

For me, this was a huge disappointment. The other reviewers talking about how the movie lost its sense of magic and wonder are absolutely right. Take the effect that Steven Spielberg creates in his movies and reverse it, and you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about.
I think the problem is the lack of focus on the characters. Each of the previous movies spent a lot of time letting you get to know each of the new characters and learning to hate or appreciate them. Since the books are highly character driven, I think it was appropriate.
In this movie though, I think they focused more on the conflicts than the characters. As a result, the movie pushed forward at a good clip, but I didn't particularly care what happened.
Overall, I think Yates lacks a sense of story and what it means to draw the audience into the world you've created. He's created something that looks like a Lifetime movie, not a member of one of the greatest stories of all time. He betrays the magic of the world, the magic of the characters, and the wonderment of magic itself -- destroying everything I held dear about the franchise.
If he directs the next movie, I will almost certainly wait until it comes out on video. Otherwise, it's not worth it.