An activity enjoyed by some.

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2007)

*SPOILERS WITHIN!* Spoilers for this movie and books 6 and 7! Although I did enjoy this movie I was dismayed at the brutal changes made within the movie that will impact following movies. Not to go into tiny details I wish to draw attention to two points.
First, after harry is made to make lines the other students in the DA are as well. How can harry show his hand to Scrimgeour with the same fortitude in "The Half-Blood Prince" when so many others have dealt with the same punishment. And why was it that Cho Chang was the one that gave them away and didn't become covered in a sneak visage? Second and most importantly, how were Umbridge and her crones able to break into the room of requirement (coincidently how the hell did Hermione know the name of the room when its secret is immense in the books?) and find everyone. In the deathly hallows the students are able to camp out in the room to evade their horrid teachers and aren't able to be followed in. This movie ensures that that plot line will be vacant from the film the deathly hallows.
I anticipated a mild ending with little of the ministry actually shown. I was greeted with what I expected, and it is a good job of the bare bones. What I wasn't thrilled with was the final scene where harry forces Voldemort out of his body/mind by feeling love. Voldemort was supposed to leave harry for that reason without harry knowing. He doesn't really embrace that idea until the deathly hallows. I was also pretty let down by Dumbledore's "I will tell you everything" speech. Where was it? I saw that chapter as one of the most important ones leading into the sixth book. An integral part of Harry's character development. But it was gone.
While it was definitely a quality movie, it did disappoint me quite a bit as an avid potter reader. The death of Richard Harris put a black mark over the series as Michael Gambon has no chance of recreating the character Harris put on screen. Harris portrayed the character of Dumbledore as if he were him. Gambon continues to portray an abrasive, thwarted, confused man, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
While it wont happen, it would have been nice to have made books 4-7 two movies each. Maybe then we could remember that this is a book/movie about a school, not just the young kids in it. Where are their school robes (after movie 2 they all started wearing muggle clothing) where's quidditch? A class other than defense against the dark arts? And just after harry gets a reprimand and hearing for using magic in front of a muggle they all decide to fly on broomsticks at sea level? I could continue to go on and on with mistakes and omissions, as is always the case with book movies, but if you can, watch the movie and then read the book. You'll be happier for it.