Not impressed *SPOILER*

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2004)

After waiting with baited breath for the release of my favorite book in the series (so far), I was, to put it bluntly, disappointed. This is such an excellent literary work, with so many subtle nuances, and subplot stories which add so much to the whole of the story. The movie in comparison was choppy and ill handled. In fact I believe this is the worst transition from book to film I believe I have ever seen. I know that a director has 'creative' license. But when that creativity adds to his goal of creating a flashy special effects show with no regard to the book then I would suggest that a director with a passion for the series (or at least someone who has read them http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/bio) is chosen.
Just a small list of the things changed or left out totally

Why Snape hates James Potter and the others.

An explanation of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Ron turned into a 1-Dimensional moron who is in love with Hermione.

A removal of the drama between Ron and Hermione over Scabbers and Crookshanks

A total removal of Buckbeak's trialexcept what isn't totally critically to the plot.

Malfoy is also turned into a 1-dimensional weakling, not nearly as vicious and cold-blooded as in the books

Adding the un-necessary scenes like Hermione throwing snails at Harry, Neville being attacked by his "Monster book of Monsters" book, and the segways with the clock and the whomping willow, just wasted time that could have been used on something more interesting and important to the plot.

Trelawney was kept to a minimum (Though I don't think I could have standed much more of her) and her classroom was totally wrong, should have been accessed by a trap-door and nauseatingly smoke filled.

Dementors fly now? (No wonder Malfoy and crew didn't bother to impersonate dementors in the movie. Flying without a broom would be hard.) Now dementors cause windows to frost over and ponds to freeze. And their kiss doesn't seem to involve coming close to their victim.

The 3 main characters (also Malfoy and friends, who pride themselves so much on their wizardness) nip off to their houses at every opportunity to switch to muggle clothes before going outside (I guess the dress code has exceptions for them now), and Hermione's trademark bushy hair isn't any more. Not to mention her clutching at Ron's hand in moments of stress.

Harry never gets in trouble once for anything, not even for his little 'appearance' in Hogsmeade.

The firebolt appears at the very end from nowhere, and Harry hops on and flies happily off into the credits. No suspicion of the broom being jinxed, no big Quidditch match, no Sir Caduggon

The willow's job is of course to keep people away from the tunnel mouth. But instead it picks them up, waves them about a bit, then tosses them right down that hole. How convenient.

Consider how collapsed the confrontation in the shack is now. Rather a short time for Harry to go from hating Sirius to liking him.

Scabbers turns into Pettigrew-with-clothes. Then later turns back into Scabbers, leaving behind that pile of clothes. Sorry, that's just sloppy.

We saw Tom the Innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron in the first movie. This time he looks like a nosferatu. Bad ale, I suppose.

Lupin says 'Someone' told people of lupin's condition. Another reason for us to hate Snape. Why change that for the movie? Well, um, maybe it saved a lot of footage to say 'someone' rather than 'Snape'.

In the book Lupin skips Harry in the boggart lesson when it becomes a dementor. Then apologizes to him for skipping him in sequence, because he assumed the boggart would become Voldemort. Then Harry tells him what he fears is a dementor, and Lupin says 'oh' But I guess we just have to make sacrifices to make way for another dementor special effect, that's obviously what matters.

On the trip to Hagrid's, away from Hagrid's, then after the time-turner there is no use of the invisibility cloak. Hermoine stresses that they cannot be seen but if you look closely they run right past the executioner sharpening his axe.

The list goes on and on but what's done is done. I hope they display better judgment when they do Goblet of Fire. That one will be harder to cut down properly, and if they do it no more skillfully than this one, it'll be really sad.
Mauldin8302