I saw this only a few days after it came out, but never got a chance to post about it.  Should probably do it now, since I want to link to this  pretty amusing parody of the H-BP movie by Sarah Rees Brennan.

I enjoyed the movie.   Dan Radcliffe isn’t very good in it and neither is Dumbledore (though a friend has commented that he has slightly more personality than in the previous films).  Important things are left out, and we don’t get any more of Gary Oldman showing off his chest (you know you liked it!).  It’s not by any means a perfect adaptation, but still good enough that I didn’t feel as though I’d wasted my money (the fifth movie, anyone?).

As a long-time fan of the books I thought the movie was a pretty unfaithful adaptation of the sixth Harry Potter book, though it manages to cram in quite a lot of things.  This is always the problem with movies that are based on books: books have no length restrictions, and can be as long as the author wants them to be, or at least as long as the editor allows them to be.  Movies do have restrictions on time, and therefore the screen writer or director has to pick and choose what details are important and which he/she can afford to omit. (more…)