The movie was… okay. They left out a lot. In fact, the people who were screaming last year that the plot in Prisoner of Azkaban was excessively stripped should have held their breath until viewing this installment. They left out the entire Rita Skeeter sub-plot, although they did show her nosing in on the students a few times and the actress seemed to have her personality down. I think that was the most important detail to overlook. This movie, much more so than the others, was almost unwatchable without having read the book first. I don’t know how I feel about the director, but I do know I’d take Alfonso Cuarón back any day of the week.
I think what bugged me most was that it constantly cut from one five minute scene to the next. There was no real dialog, no sense of close-knit friends. I understand you can only do so much when you have to cram a book as large as this into a two and a half hour movie. I understand this is why plots were left out. Still, couldn’t they have done it Lord of the Rings style and filmed a long, 5 hour movie which was able to get in more of the plot, and then break them into two movies, showing them a couple months apart? I guess that’s too much to ask.
I don’t know how they’re going to do the next movie at all. It’ll just be a series of 30 second clips going from one scene to the next.
The cinematography and special effects were amazing. This bathtub scene (probably one of the longest in the whole film) provided much needed comic relief. I was disappointed with how little Ron and Hermione were in this. I think the twins may have been in it more than them, not that I’m complaining about their amount of screen time.
I guess overall I was just a little disappointed. It was still worth seeing (even worth paying $25 for tickets and fees) but this is undoubtedly my least favorite of the movies so far. Then again, the Goblet of Fire was my least favorite book as well.