If you liked the first two movies, or the books, you won't like this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 2004)

Alfonso Cuaron was a very bad choice of directors. I just saw this movie today, and it was very bad. I read the book a few years ago, and I thought it was great. But everything that made the book great just seemed to be gone in the movie. I can't even put my finger on it. I think it's because of the change in directors. Alfonso Cuaron seems like a very artistic and gimmicky kind of director to me, and has no sense of story telling. Christopher Columbus told the story better, and made good movies out of it. They didn't omit anything major, and the movies ended up being wonderful. But Alfonso Cuaron cut out some of the best parts of the book, as well as the most important parts (like explaining how Sirius Black knew Peter Pettigrew was at Hogwarts, or even explaining how Sirius Black was wrongfully accused of Peter's murder). One of the worst parts of the movie is the end. It was all wrong. The Firebolt being received was a terrible way to end the movie, and it wasn't even explained who gave it to him. We never get the heartwarming letter from Sirius to tell Harry (and the audience!) that Sirius did indeed make it to safety, and that he wasn't attacked by Dementors (who can fly????) or something on his way to the mountains. There were obviously a lot of omissions from the story, and one must wonder why, when they could have put most of them in, and the movie could have been like 3 hours long, like it should have been. I don't know what they were thinking by making the movie only 2 hours and 15 minutes. The movie seemed so rushed, and incomplete.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a much better movie, and adaptation. I wish Christopher Columbus would direct again, because he really understood the story well, and made good films from it. Alfonso Cuaron seemed like he was too busy trying to make a good movie that he disregarded the importance of the story, and just crammed it all into a rushed and creepy movie that alienates it's audience.
Sorry to everybody who liked it, but I thought it could have been done way better if someone else directed. Somehow, I should have figured the director Y Tu Mama Tambien would be wrong for Harry Potter!
5/10