Absolutely horrified - spoiler within

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2004)

Where to begin? Let's start with the fact that this director has NO knowledge of Harry Potter, either the previous movies or the books. Some background knowledge would have gone a long way. I realize the issue and pressure put on by the time constraints of a movie; no one wants to sit through a five hour film. HOWEVER - why leave out all of the important threads that tie this story together and instead include elaborate scenes that do not pertain to the storyline nor enhance anything or did not happen at all? To J.K. Rowling I give my deepest sympathy that her "baby" has been massacred (I'm seeing a parallel between Voldemort killing Harry's parents and Cuaron destroying this book). As many others have said there is no continuity between the previous two movies and this one. Landscape changes, a random massive clock, the giant (or maybe he's changed to miniature for this film) squid's puddle of a lake and the small, insignificant dementors that are supposed to frighten all but instead look like wisps of cloth that a slight breeze would blow them to the moon. I feel pity for the actors, who in the previous movies portrayed happy-go-lucky youngsters who through courage and wits were able to come out victorious. In this movie it looks as if they all need some happy pills- where is the emotion? The acting seems forced - and if it were me I would be a little depressed too if the films that were my life suddenly took a turn towards a very large cliff.
I could handle the changes and subtractions in the previous movies, as time is an issue, because Columbus made things work. The storyline was easy to follow in the previous movies and actually coexisted quite well with the books. This new installment does not follow the book, it almost seems as if the new director listened to someone (without that much knowledge of HP) give a summary of what happened and he went from there. It is hard to distinguish who the 'bad guy' is because Black was never seen as the mass murderer he was supposed to be. Characters, who will be important in following movies, are never introduced. Where did the shrunken heads come from? Also, very obvious contradictions lay within the movie itself. For instance, Harry using magic in the opening scene when not but five minutes later we here Uncle Vernon saying how he is not allowed to use magic outside of school. The entire movie had a very poor and dirty look to it, reminiscent of a 'B' movie. The buildings had the shabbiness that Lupin was supposed to have, but never did. One of the things the previous movies had that lacked in this one was the majestic feel to everything magical. This is supposed to be about his years in school to learn magic and his adventures that happen during those years. In this movie nothing is learned by the children and considering the fact they only seemed to have had a handful of classes throughout the entire year, how could they? One of the major elements that made the previous movies feel magical was the mystical music that pretty much went from beginning to end. During this movie you will hear a few choice big-band selections and one choir-sung song that should've been saved for the fifth movie, 'Something Wicked this Way Comes,' (nothing particularly wicked is actually coming, save it for Voldemort). All and all I wish I never went to see the movie and dearly hope that by the next one a new director is chosen and hopefully that person could pick up the pieces of this destroyed work of art that could've been but never was.