Halleluiah!

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2004)

Finally! A film with only ten minutes or so of Quidditch! It's a miracle. (Spoilers...I think)
The new Dumbledore is far, far, far, more like the one than I imagined, the kids acting was fab, better than usual, a lot of people are slating Harry, but you have to admit, that's easily the hardest role to play.
Timothy Spall was fantastic as the repulsive, creeping, grovelling Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew, David Thewlis is undoubtedly a good actor, but I found him a bit damp and weedy for the part of the werewolf Lupin, although he pulled the role off very well. Gary Oldman acted out Siruis' part magically, but has nobody heard of hair straighteners and black hairdye? One of his main features is matted, straight, BLACK hair. Since when did it become wavy and light brown? Also, the costume designer must have run out of ideas, because, a stripy convicts outfit and a trench coat? Uh-uh. Not a good Sirius look. It must be someone's idea of a bad joke.
The Hippogriff and Werewolf were amazing. Buckbeak could have almost stepped out of the screen, and the werewolf was completely original, though the transformation looked rather painful and had quite a few sickening crunches in it. The story line was, for once, good, and while the script had a couple of let downs (Harry and Lupin on a bridge somewhere, discussing Harry's parents) it maintained a rather interesting, snappy standard. The plot line is a miracle. It fits together perfectly, taking just the right elements and fiddling with them slightly to avoid hassle, time-wasting and pointless bits without skipping huge chunks of the story.
Well worth watching, far scarier than the other two put together, and I have to admit, if I was the parent of a young child who had loved the first two, I would be slightly annoyed at the fact that there was no warning about just how spooky those dementors were.