It had it's moments.

Rating: Null/10 (2 February 2008)

This film had a lot of potential. The third book was easily one of the best in the series, so naturally you shouldn't have to alter the storyline of the movie to much to make it dark and fun.
Right? Wrong.
From the beginning, it's obvious that this film is going to be much different from the book. Not completely so, but enough to take the enjoyment away from any hard-core fan of the book.
The scene with the Dursleys, for starters, was horribly done. That scene should have been longer, it should have been so much more emotional. Instead, it feels completely rushed, like it was just thrown in there for humor. Because thats what it came off as. It was not as dark and horrible as it was in the book, which took away from it.
The next few scenes were well done (with the exception of the shrunken head on the Knight bus) The scene with the Dementor was well done and appropriately dark. This however, seemed more due to lighting than the actual Dementor itself, which didn't look scary at all.
Threy then arrive at the school and from there on it's a series of ups and downs. The boggart scene was done well. Buckbeak looked fantastic. The Harry/Ron/Hermione interaction is good, all three of the kids have definitely grown into their roles nicely. (not that I had any doubt that they would) The downfalls however, are plentiful and certainly enough to ruin what could be a great film. For starters, the whole set is different from the first two. I can read the books and then watch the first two films and see Hogwarts as it was described in the books in those two films. I however, can't with this one. It also seems that in order to show this films darker tone, the film was simply stripped of it's color. It looks bland, almost like it's about to resort to black and white soon.
The classes are almost never seen and the students are almost always seen wearing regular clothing instead of robes.
They also failed to mention the firebolt, until the end. Only one Quidditch match was actually shown, and Hermione's overwhelming amount of classes was hardly addressed at all.
This however, could all be overlooked if it weren't for the gaping plot holes that pop up at the end. What should have been a lengthy, somewhat dramatic confrontation between the three remaining Marauders, Snape and the trio was altered so drastically that had I not read the book beforehand, I never would have been able to figure out what was going on.
The Marauders were never explained, it was never told that Harry's father was an Animagus or exactly why Petttigrew and Sirius were ones. The Marauder's history with Snape was never explained either. We didn't really find out exactly what had transpired between Sirius and Pettigrew or about Lupin being a werewolf. (we were just told he was one by Hermione, no further elaboration except for Lupin briefly confirming it) The scene was rushed and over-dramatized at times. I remember first reading this book a few years ago when I was about fifteen and being shocked out of my mind at this part. I never would have guessed on my own that Pettigrew was an Animagus or that he was even still alive. Yet, when I watched the movies version of it, I felt nothing but confusion by the whole thing, not to mention upset considering just how much was cut.
The next few scenes, were thankfully done well. There were inconsistencies, like Hermione's rather rushed explanation of the time-turner. But overall it was action packed and trilling. (Although, I did feel that Lupin as a werewolf looked pretty lame, almost comical) As for the actor and actresses, I believe they all performed admirably, with the exception of Gary Oldman and Michael Gambon. Oldman just didn't seem right as Sirius to me and don't even get me started on Gambon. The man can't hold a candle to Richard Harris. (R.I.P. Harris) Overall, not a bad film, but there is definitely room for improvement. Perhaps if this movie had been longer and included more of the original storyline, it would have been a more worthy entry to the series.
Four stars out of ten.