Good, but not great

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2004)

On its own, this movie was good. But for the large majority of people who have read the book, and/or seen the other two films, this was a letdown in my opinion. This does not mean it was a complete failure, or even anything close to it. I still enjoyed it very much. However, this film (unlike the other two) strayed from the book at several places (some of them major). I have read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it, and having the movie leave out or change so many parts was very disappointing. Also, I felt that the story was very rushed and fragmented. It jumped from scene to scene with little or no transition. It wasn't until the climactic ending portion that it actually elaborated on anything. Finally, I agree with the people who say the the new director has seriously cut back on the sense of magic and wonderment which was found in the first two. It's focused too much on the story (the much altered, and choppy one at that) to pay much attention to any "frills", which are much needed in a movie like this one.