Darker isn't always better

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2007)

I know that many of the readers of the books, those that post on IMDb anyway, and the critical mass hailed this as the first authentic recreation of the universe that Rowling created. Again, I come to these films totally ignorant of the books, however, for me, the criticism of Columbus' first 2 films in the franchise is nitpicking. Further, the praise given to this film I think is overdone.
The kids are once again great, but the film to me is disjointed and a mess. Not sure if the book treats the Black character the same as the film, but when we FINALLY get to see him in the flesh, he is gone again. I thought the whole lead up to his reveal was overdone. Oldman plays the character fantastically, but the character is hyped so much in the film and then given very little in the end that I felt almost cheated.
As for the darkness of the film, it works in furthering the story, but just because it is darker doesn't make it better. I still think Columbus did an excellent job with the first two films and I don't understand the criticism of his films and the lauding of this one.
I was very disappointed that once again Snape, the Malfoy's and Dumbledore are all but absent here. Again, not sure if in the books these characters are thrown to the side, but they are characters I personally would like to see more time given to. Draco is turned into an absolute wimp this go around and I thought that totally discredited his character. Yes, he has the cowards personality shown in the first two films, but he is also seen as a serious threat to Harry. Now he is reduced to the clichéd wimpy bully here. Another major rub this time around is Dumbledore. He is reduced to a dismissive kindly old man. Is he not the headmaster? Yet he seems to have little to do from a leadership stand point.
All in all, this was a good movie, but for me, the weakest in the franchise to date. There is a lot of good in it, but there is also a lot of negative, mainly with the characters I mentioned, and in the end made the film a disappointment for me.