Internal/darker Harry Potter

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2007)

So I never saw the second Harry Potter, but a few weeks back on a bus to New York City, I saw the third Harry Potter film. Sure the conditions were less than adequate for viewing such a would-be mega movie, but it managed to keep me occupied on the trip down.
So what can I say? It was entertaining enough. At times I had a hard time following the storyline or the significance of the various elements of the film. This one also wasn't able to pin down what it was trying to say as well as the first one, although it appeared to be similar in tone, despite the overall "darkness" of the film. I think the film would've benefited tremendously from a larger screen presentation with a proper sound system, so I'm going to adjust the final score +1 because of the limited presentation facilities onboard the bus.
That said, the film is a bit internal. There's a lot to learn about the world that the film tries to express and although a lot of it isn't necessary, it's all hinted at, which made me feel like I was missing out not reading the books, at the same time, it also made me feel like the film wasn't self-contained enough, not knowing the significance of the creatures, spells and etc. occurring in the film.
Anyway, it was entertaining enough for a bus ride and I'm sure it could be even better in a proper environment. 7/10 (6/10 on a bus, adjusted for poor viewing environment/sound).