a glimpse of what could have been...

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2008)

This movie is so fresh... it flows easily are sprinkled with nice humor and is full of creative touches, the music is good, hell even the kids (especially Emma Watson) are good (well... Radclife is passable) and the direction is nothing short of mind blowing.
Seriously, this is a glimpse of what could have been a great series if someone like Cuaron would have directed it. He seems to have a firm grasp of the humor and atmosphere of JKs universe and have distilled the book into a organic film instead of a bunch of stringed together scenes.
Everything looks so much better then in previous entries. And there is a sensed of darkness here that could only been sensed before, now, if you read JKs novels you know that this darkness is in the books too, its that surrounding darkness that makes Hogwarts such a cosy place, Cuaron understands, look how he contrasts the dread of the dementers with the guys joking around in the tower. Its a knee-jerk reaction equating darkness with improvement, but Cuaron is much more then darkness, he instills real warmth and charm into his characters, contrasting that darkness, making it a cosy picture, Hagrid is especially endearing in this installment. His warmth is real, his sadness is real.
David Thewlis as Lupin shines brightest though. The acting, the mustasche, its just comes together brilliantly.
Cuaron also understands that Dumbledore isn't some Gandalf rip-off, he is this wise, but still genuinely eccentric wizard. And Finally we can sense that weird side of him to. (not that Richard Harris wasn't brilliant though... i just think he was a little to... tired) And in a stroke of genius Cuaron throws in this shrunken-talking- Jamaican head WOW... just WOW