Somewhat lacking

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2004)

I went into this movie aware of the fact that the 3rd book was a bit darker and different than the first two, but I still came out disappointed. (And FYI, I haven't read any of the books, so please excuse my inability to compare.)
As such, I had no qualms with the movie being a bit darker, for that was a welcome change and a way to take the series to a new level. But my first overwhelming thought was that the movie seemed very choppy, like a segment would start and I'd think it would be building to something and then it'd jump somewhere else, and I kept thinking, 'when is something significant going to happen?' It also seemed as if it was dumbed down a notch, almost as if several subplots were left out so as not to confuse us. But nonetheless, I still wound up being confusing with the whole 'Serious Black isn't actually the bad guy' reversal. It was so abrupt, if you blinked, you'd miss it. And personally, while the back-in-time thing was well-written, I felt it was a bit beneath the intelligence of the series (and yes, I realize it was in the book, so I don't suppose one can fault the movie for that).
On the whole, there was nothing really extraordinary in the film. Sure, it had it's moments, such as the seasons changing as the owl's flying and I really liked the Hippogriff, but to me the CG looked a bit different and on the whole it had a very different feel, and while I'm sure that can be contributed to the new director having a different style, it didn't seem to encompass that lasting quality that the first two had.
I think the biggest disappointed to me was that I was kinda glad when the movie was over. There weren't any parts that I particularly enjoyed, nothing that stood out. I think my biggest enjoyment was seeing the characters older and the young actors growing in their abilities. Ultimately, I went into the movie not expecting much and came out feeling like I'd done little more than see the characters two years older.
6.5 out of 10