Stripped of all subtlety, alas.

Rating: 5/10 (13 August 2007)

As has been pointed out, this is the shortest movie - made, paradoxically, from the longest book. I'm not sure who's responsible for this, but we can only hope that the DVD version restores the subtlety that Rowling wrote into the story. For example: in the book, as Harry tries to deal with being cut off from Dumbledore, Ron is dealing with a lack of support from Harry. It is a nice parallel plot, one that Rupert Grint would have handled nicely, given a chance to do so. But instead of luxuriating in the human-interest sub-plots, we are rushed through what amounts to an action flick. This is horribly frustrating and a mis-read of this series' viewing public. Surely the producers know that we'll sit through a longer movie (as many of us did with the Lord of the Rings trilogy) if the film is true to the book, yet sustainable as a visual experience.
Alas and alack, Yates has been booked to direct the next one, as well. We can only hope he has developed a higher opinion of his audience by the time filming begins.