Viewer's Review of the New Movie ***Major Spoiler***

Rating: Null/10 (4 June 2004)

***MaJoR SpOiLeR***
Being the big Harry Potter fan that I am, I was truly, strongly disappointed with the third movie. It followed the book very loosely. It seemed to me, that if you hadn't read the book, you would be a little fuzzy on the story line.
There were many important details missing from the story. Starting at the beginning--The story begins with Harry doing his homework as it started in the book, but it completely skips the part discussing the upcoming visit of Harry's uncle's sister, during which time, Harry asks his uncle to sign the permission slip which allows him to take trips into the school's village. In the movie, they skip all of that and jump right to the part when his aunt shows up, at which time they casually slide in the part about the permission slip. During dinner with his aunt, they make it seem like Harry is just some wild and crazy kid who has sudden outbursts at people he doesn't like, when really his aunt is saying horrible things about his parents and he can't take it anymore. Also, in the book, Harry's aunt doesn't go flying off into space like some hot air balloon, she stays in the house.
Secondly, during the scene of the Knight Bus, they completely took out the part where Stan Shunpike asks Harry his name and he replies with "Neville Longbottom." I was really disappointed with that. And the shrunken Jamaican talking head, I mean, honestly...Where did that come from? It SURELY wasn't in the book.
In my opinion, the casting was done very poorly. I am beginning to wonder if the screenwriter even READ the book. Sirius Black was described as a man who very much resembled the dog that he transformed into. He was said to have 'matted hair that hung to his elbows.' And while I am on the subject of Sirius, the dog was about as poorly picked as the actor. The dog, like the character playing Sirius, was very scrawny. The new Dumbledore was totally out of character from the old Dumbledore. I mean, sure, the old Dumbledore had a sense of humor but he wasn't some crazy old man who was cheerful and skipping down the sidewalk all the time.
I didn't like that they slide the Firebolt scene in at the very end of the movie, when in the book, there was a whole big thing about it. McGonagall had taken it from Harry to test it for jinxes when they thought Sirius Black was trying to kill him.
In conclusion, I thought the movie could have been a LOT better. It should have followed the book more clearly because if you haven't read the book, you're going to be a little lost. I was expecting more because the first two movies were almost exact to the books. Hopefully, the 4th movie, will be better and follow the book.