This is my sister's least favorite movie in the series. Its respective source material is over 850 pages making it the longest book in the series, while the movie itself was the shortest in its series at the time, at only 133 minutes. However, I am willing to overlook that if, after all that, it's still entertaining, which it is, I'm happy to say. As a matter of fact, J.K. Rowling herself, who has been openly supportive of the adaptations of all of the books, actually went as far as to say that this movie was the best in its series before “Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” For those of you who've read the books, you're probably upset at how many things were cut out, but, if this helps, David Heyman, one of the producers of all the films (one of the VERY rare crew members who was with the franchise from the very beginning to the very end) has said in a recent interview that cutting out storylines from the books wasn't very fun for him either.
This movie introduced movie-only fans to the character of Luna Lovegood, the slightly batty but whip-sharp and kind Ravenclaw fourth year who ends up playing a major role in outcome of the story. The actress chosen to play her, Evanna Lynch, was a complete newcomer to the acting game, but she captures the characteristics of Luna so well (the dreamy, permanent look of unconcern on her face, the eternally surprised vibe she gives out, and the voice that sounds as though she is permanently unconcerned with anything around her) so well that you'd think she'd acted many times beforehand. This is also the first movie in the series not written by Steve Kloves (he returned for “Half-Blood Prince”), replaced by Michael Goldenburg, who makes the tone considerably darker than in the previous films, which is helped by the well-fitting visual style of replacement for Mike Newell, David Yates (also British). Yates would later direct all of the succeeding films in the series, the most for any director in the whole series. The intense, funny and rather brisk build-up period builds to a spectacularly staged climactic battle. A HUGE problem with this movie is that Umbridge does NOT (despite Ron's incorrectly used comment) have a face like a toad like in the book. As a matter of fact, compared to Anerican artist for the pictures of the books, Mary Grandpré's impression of her, the Umbridge in the movie looks quite well cared for indeed. Also, the decision to use Cho as the snitch for the D.A. was a bad idea. In the book, J.K. Rowling used Cho's friend as the snitch. In fact, the movie oversimplified the way that Harry's relationship with her came crumbling down. The way his crush on her is brought to its close is much more reflective of an actual adolescent relationship. Still, this film ultimately gets you ready for the penultimate installment of the series nicely.
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