From innocence to darkness - how a lot has changed in 5 movies

Rating: 6/10 (29 July 2007)

I am not a die-hard Potter fanatic but I do enjoy reading the books (once I have wrestled them from my girlfriend's grasp). But watching this movie, it struck me how much the story has changed since the first one.
In the first movie, you had a magical world, strange creatures, innocence, magic and a captivated Harry discovering a new world. Now fast-forward to book / movie 5 - what do you have? Despair, depression, darkness, death, evil. Not exactly an uplifting message for kids is it? When I went to the cinema to see this, the kids were in tears by the end.
I can't fault the making of this movie. The special effects were outstanding and the script was excellent with good acting all round. But I just couldn't get it out of my head how dark and negative this story has become (and it gets even worse in books 6 & 7). This really has gone from being a children's story to being an adult story (should we really have torture in a children's movie? I'm not sure children should be seeing Harry getting acid on his hands).
Top marks though to Imelda Staunton who did a magnificent job of playing Dolores Umbridge, the woman everyone hates. She was perfectly cast in the role she was born to play.
Before watching this movie, take a big dose of Prozac. You'll need it.