Disjointed and Lame

Rating: 2/10 (7 June 2004)

I admit to not being a Harry Potter fan but I have seen the other two movies, and found them enjoyable so went to see the new film today.
My main problem with the movie is it is so disjointed. It doesn't have a good, steady flow to storyline and jumps around way too much. You never get to see anything in the film play out from beginning to end....you suddenly join the action in progress or jump out of the action right in the middle and are suddenly at the end. I found that extremely annoying and it really hurt the film. Shoe me the whole Quiddich match...don't just join it in progress and stop it when Harry falls without showing how everyone reacted to Harry's fall. Things like this just ruined the flow and made it seem like there were huge plot holes in the film.
They also didn't explain things fully in the film. They left out key parts of the book...like why the map was so important...and then would give you a rushed explanation later through character dialogue. If they had explained the map earlier, as well as the adult characters relationships to one another through their history, all the adult characters wouldn't have had to spout, in rapid fire delivery, loads of dialogue to explain their relationships with one another in the Shreiking Shack. Which left many adults in the movie theatre actually saying out loud, "What the hell?" and looking confused. If I hadn't read the book I would have been very confused as well which is a problem, you shouldn't have to read the book to enjoy the film. You should be able to at least get an idea of what is going on so you can enjoy it without prior knowledge of the story.
Malfoy got very little screen time this time around and I seem to remember him having a lot more to do with the story in the book. The way that this movie made the relationship to Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione and Malfoy look pathetic. It truly made it look like the three were bullying Malfoy and not the other way around. This is not a good thing and I really feel it did his character a dis-service. He doesn't seem as menacing now and you actually start to feel a bit sorry for him because he appears so picked on.
I did like the way it showed the surroundings of Hogwarts. The hillsides, lakes, and forests were stunning though, I kept expecting to hear the "The King from the Golden Hall", complete with Norwegian fiddle, from the LOTR soundtrack to start playing as the camera swept over the hillsides and forests or orcs to attack them in the forest. I think the director did steal a bit of the countryside idea from LOTR. It was nice to finally see the surroundings of the school because it explained what was so special about it.
I also liked the transitions that showed the passing of time. It was done in a really nice way...the owl flying into snowflakes which turn to snow covering the ground....the tree losing one leaf and then suddenly dropping them all. That was well done.
The kids playing Potter, Hermione, and Ron are starting to really relax in their roles and grow a little as actors. Especially Daniel Radcliff. I think that they should try to keep the kids in the roles they have as long as they can because it would be a bit jarring to have to recast them. I know that they are quickly growing up so this may be impossible.
The Dementors were cool and would appear very scary to small children. The effect of "sucking the soul" out of people that they do would also scare small children a lot so it really surprised me that many adults brought their small children to this film. The Dementors and the werewolf would definitely not be good for small children to watch and may give them nightmares.
It will be interesting to see where this series goes and how the, even longer, next book will be brought to film. Hopefully, it will not be as disjointed as this one.