First, the good news -- The special effects and the music in the this movie were the best yet! The underwater scenes especially were very well done.
The thing I disliked most about the movie is that Albus Dumbledore is not portrayed as the calm, wise old wizard he is in the books. Instead he is portrayed as a stormy, confused old man that doesn't have much of a clue what's going on. The character of Dumbledore is just WAY off. In one scene Dumbledore grabs Harry around the neck and shakes him, what's THAT about? The very thought of Albus Dumbledore being physically violent with a student is Absolutely ABSURD!! THATS NOT IN DUMBLEDORE'S CHARACTER!! Real Harry Potter fans all over are going to be outraged by this portrayal of Dumbledore. That pretty much ruined the movie for me. Another thing I didn't like about this movie was that so much of the real story was left out and/or changed. I guess i'm just spoiled because I'm so attached to the books... I know it's impossible to fit that whole story in a 2 1/2 hour movie, but there was some pretty good stuff that was left out.
If you're interested, Some of the things that weren't included in the movie that stuck out in my mind are:
I'm still ticked off about Dumbledore... I'm starting to think that the people who make the movies just don't even read the books, because Dumbledore was SO out of character it made me angry. That bothers me more than anything else. I wouldn't rush to see this movie, wait until it comes out on DVD. Besides the good special effects and music, the movie was really bad. I Hope this review has been helpful.
The thing I disliked most about the movie is that Albus Dumbledore is not portrayed as the calm, wise old wizard he is in the books. Instead he is portrayed as a stormy, confused old man that doesn't have much of a clue what's going on. The character of Dumbledore is just WAY off. In one scene Dumbledore grabs Harry around the neck and shakes him, what's THAT about? The very thought of Albus Dumbledore being physically violent with a student is Absolutely ABSURD!! THATS NOT IN DUMBLEDORE'S CHARACTER!! Real Harry Potter fans all over are going to be outraged by this portrayal of Dumbledore. That pretty much ruined the movie for me. Another thing I didn't like about this movie was that so much of the real story was left out and/or changed. I guess i'm just spoiled because I'm so attached to the books... I know it's impossible to fit that whole story in a 2 1/2 hour movie, but there was some pretty good stuff that was left out.
If you're interested, Some of the things that weren't included in the movie that stuck out in my mind are:
- The scene where Dudley eats the ton-tongue coffee and has an enlarged tongue. The Dursley's aren't included in this one at all.
- Weasley's Wizard Weezes are not mentioned
- The character Ludo Bagman is left out altogether
- Winky isn't in the movie
- S.P.E.W (Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare), the Elf-rights activist group formed by Hermione, is left out altogether. And i thought this added a lot to the story throughout the book
- Hagrid's humiliation at being exposed as a Half-giant is left out, and so of course is Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming to comfort him
- no Blast-Ended Screwts
- Hermione never catches Rita Skeeter in her animagus form (a beetle) as she does in the book
- The scene in which Draco Malfoy is attacked on the train near the end isn't in the movie
- The money Harry wins from the tournament and gives to Fred and George to go toward starting their joke shop is left out
- The discussion with Fudge about Voldemort's return and his refusal to accept it is left out. I don't know how they're going to reconcile this one because Fudge's refusal to accept Voldemort is crucial in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
- Sirius coming to Hogwarts to see Harry after the Third Task is left out
I'm still ticked off about Dumbledore... I'm starting to think that the people who make the movies just don't even read the books, because Dumbledore was SO out of character it made me angry. That bothers me more than anything else. I wouldn't rush to see this movie, wait until it comes out on DVD. Besides the good special effects and music, the movie was really bad. I Hope this review has been helpful.