horrible disappointment(spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2004)

OK, here is my beef with this movie. For one There is way too much changed in the movie and taken out, and also way to much unnecessarily added. I don't know what the heck Quaron was thinking about with the addition of the rostafarion shrunken heads, but it was definitely not needed. the disappearance of goyle and the complete materialization of malfoys unknown friend was something that puzzled me. The recasting of tom at the leaky cauldron was downright annoying! I felt that his mere presence during the chat between the minister and harry took focus on what was really at stake, the matter of Harry's predicament with expulsion and possible arrest. No where in the book did it ever make tom out to be an annoying hunchback. Bad directorial intervention! Also, the absence of harry's visits down diagon alley make the whole firebolt thing at the end completely worthless. The audience has no concept whatsoever that this broom is among the greatest gifts Harry could receive, and the fact that once you see it, it looks like a piece of trash and not the state of the art masterpiece that it is supposed to be. They changed placement and look of the womping willow, which doesn't demonstrate ingenious directing style, but rather horrible sense of continuity. The dementors, looked good at first, but Quaron for some stupid reason left out the most terrifying thing about them. In Harry's conversations with Lupin, it is asked what is under the Dementor's hood, and it goes in about the dementors kiss. when reading the book, I found that finally seeing the gaping hole that is the dementors mouth and the eyeless face was the creepiest thing about them, and truly puts their horrific nature into scope, but of course it is left out. I have read many reviews discussing how the director's "brisk feel" he gives to the movie is refreshing and stylistic. What the Heck is that! The "Brisk Feel" is nothing more than trying to cram as much dialog into a short amount of time without emphasis on any of it, but merely saying it so that it could be said. For example...All of Proffessor Trelawny's scenes (Boy did they screw her up) They just let some things happen without explanation or anything. They go through all the trouble of shooting the scene where the kids are eating the jinxed candy to sound like animals, but don't even spend a sentence informing that "Fred and George made them". There, 5 words, 2 seconds, and you would have at least made some half hearted attempt to indicate how much of jokers fred and george really are (which regretfully has been neglected through all the movies). They say the map is the secret of their success...WHAT SUCCESS?!?! And as good of personalities as they are, they should get touched upon more often. Now lets focus on lupin. His illness is only lightly touched upon,his office was completely devoid of the specimans that made it so interesting, it looked more like a dark wizards den. The connection between him and the map is totally forgotten about, as are his and his friends' nicknames. And am i the only one that thinks that the scene on the bridge where he and harry are talking it is implied that he had feelings for Lily...Where the heck was that in the book. And now casting. I'm Sorry Michael Gamdon, but you not Richard Harris, and it is a tragedy that he is lost forever, for was truly dumbledore. But i thought he could have at least put forth a little more effort to match his characters personality. when reading the book, i couldn't help but imagine a disheveled Kevin Kline as Lupin, not saying the other guy did a bad job, far from it. But appearance wise I thought the got it wrong. Tom the inkeeper I have already touched upon, Trelawny's character could have been better if they would have just slowed the scene down a bit, give the poor woman time to breath. and Macnair the executioner looked like a goblin from lord of the rings. And now the Thing that bugs me most about the film, the proof that the director didn't even read the thing. The emphasis on the book is on friendship. true connection between people that is strong enough to sacrifice oneself for. The connection between Lupin, Sirius, James, and Peter (whose history should have at least been tried to explain) is what truly makes the betrayal so painful. The bonding between Hagrid and the kids to Buckbeak was the only thing that barely came acrossed as strong. When peter is reveled, the whole lecture about self-sacrifice for ones friends is rushed through and completely not felt. The only thing that i felt was good about this movie was the performances by the three main kids. Other than that, this movie was a horrible disappointment. I'll have more to complain about if i see this movie again.