Poor special effects spoilt the movie

Rating: 6/10 (8 December 2005)

It seems that once again, I am one of the few to criticise Harry Potter films (3/10 for Goblet of Fire). What spoilt this film largely for me was the special effects. The Dementors were a huge disappointment - they looked like men with pieces of black cloth over their heads. As with the Goblet of Fire, not enough time was spent on small but important details. Harry does not meet Cho in this movie, which provokes an unlikely glance at a random Ravenclaw in the fourth movie as Harry's basis for falling in love. Where was the quidditch? Where was Diggory?
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are poor caricatures of deep characters. Black is not involved enough, he just hovers at the edge of the film at all times. Lupin does not look shabby with a neatly trimmed moustache and combed hair - he looks like a Muggle businessman. The scenery also changes inconsistently with a great whoppin' bridge appearing out of nowhere and gosh, Hagrid's hut has relocated.
Another detail which I forgot is the Boggart scene with the class and Lupin. As Harry steps forward, the Boggart clearly takes the shape of a Dementor, yet later on, Lupin claims he thought it would turn into Voldemort.
The only redeeming feature of this film was that the actors (with the exception of Black and Lupin who weren't provided with adequate script and just didn't look like the part respectively) did well.