Too little, too fast

Rating: 7/10 (2 September 2004)

Totty score: 4/10. Awesome destruction: 1/10. Scary monsters: 8/10.

Favourite bit: boys dormitory scene (not for that reason!)
It seemed very rushed though, when you know the original so well it's hard to leapfrog through the story like that.
Gary Oldman was great, David Thewlis was perfectly good acting wise but not quite right for me as Lupin. The new Dumbledore had two problems; his accent was a bit distracting and he had a McGonagall clone thing going on in his mannerisms. Hermione was no longer irritating, a feat I did not think was possible, although she did rather take over the story towards the end of the movie. Ron was sweet, Harry was better though still shaky in places and Malfoy was hot. Neville looks really different and both Seamus and the Weasley twins were leaps and bounds better acting wise. Crookshanks was perfect. The set and style were really really good. The Dementors were awesome and scary and Buckbeak was pretty cool. The werewolf effects were pretty good too.
The new direction has improved the film by leaps and bounds from the previous two, most particularly by improving all of the children's acting. But rushed, a lot of it felt rushed to me, I'm hoping for an extended version.