Movie Poster

The other day I was in the library, in the Restricted Section, and I came across something rather odd about a very rare piece of magic.

Past Harry Potter film reviews:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone

# Review

There were many details this film got right, such as Luna's character and Ron and Lavendar's cringe-worthy relationship. Unfortunately, I find that the movie violated the integrity of the original plot; the film added one random very long scene which was not in the book, but in exchange, the film skipped over many of the more impactful plot points in the book, especially near the end.

If one is watching the film without having read the book first, it's actually an ok film. The cinematography is pretty decent; I especially liked the lighting used throughout the film, which is noticeably darker and more washed out than the earlier films, conveying a sense of dread and foreboding. The acting in this movie is pretty phenomenal; Rupert Grint does an excellent job as Ron and Michael Gambon nails his role as Dumbledore.

After reading the book, however, this movie felt very mediocre and anticlimatic. For one, the film focuses too much on (surprise surprise) the schoolyard drama, even more so than the books. The climax of the story was very short relative to the time spent developing the schoolyard drama and adding visually appealing scenes which don't contribute much to the main story.

# Conclusion

An excellent film if you haven't read the book.

# Overall rating: 7.2

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