The Bank Job

I know what you’re thinking. Jason Statham has made another movie to follow up that Uwe Boll movie that he made that nobody watch so why would I want to watch this one. Well before I answer anything for you I would like you to do one thing. Go grab a pencil very quickly. Please don’t read on to see where I’m going with this, just get a pen or a pencil. When you’ve got one, make the star trek wave with your hand (a peace sign with all four fingers instead of two) and then put the pen/pencil in between. Now squeeze with your other hand. That hurt didn’t it? Well that’s what you get. Every time Hollywood gets it right and makes a good movie that’s really enjoyable, nobody watches it. (For those who did watch the movie I apologize for the pain). This movie was great, it wasn’t the best of the year so far, but it was by far the best thing that’s been out in weeks.

The movie stars Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows in a heist movie which unlike many others only spends about the first half of the movie on the actual heist. Jason Statham’s character is a married man with two girls who gets a job from an ex (Burrows) about robbing a bank. She’s a little iffy on giving out information but what bank heist doesn’t have its risks? Just ask the Oceans crew. The movie begins with him gathering some close friends and old ones as well who all have their expertise that can be used (sound familiar still?). However what takes this movie above and beyond is its sub plot. There is corruption on the streets when several high ranking officials of the local police department and government are blackmailed by one of the most notorious people out on the town. He has photos of several of them doing… wild acts. He even has pictures of the Princess doing so as well. Of course as fate would have it, these photos are held secure in the exact bank that is going to be robbed. Now the whole movie plays out very linearly and it’s very easy to follow while at the same time being very easy to watch.

The acting here is much better than I expected. Everyone gives in well performances which, for a movie that sounds this corny on paper, are a great sight for sore eyes. Jason Statham in particular shows that he actually does have some talent that goes beyond his Transporter films. Saffron Burrows who is probably best known for her role in Boston Legal also checks in a strong performance as the ex girlfriend of Statham’s character who offers him the job.

Overall the movie plays out as one of my favorites of the year so far. Not the best, but one of my favorites. While not as funny it is a little bit above the Ocean’s franchise and it’s a very fun experience. This movie is rated R for a reason however as the movie contains several murders, nudity, and one of the characters is an ex adult movie start, a minor background point that is references a few times. I give this movie a 4/5 and give it a high recommendation to the audience of 16 and above.

Horton Hears a Who

Horton Hears a Who is the new animated Dr. Suess film. The film stars the voices of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, however don’t worry, unlike Carrey’s last Seuss attempt, this one doesn’t leave you running for the exits. The movie is a nice family comedy about an elephant named Horton (Jim Carrey) who discovers the world of the Whos which in Horton’s world is just a small little speck on a pink clover.

Horton finds this ‘speck’ and with his great hearing is able to listen in on the whos inside. His great hearing talent however is not shared by any of the other animals and many see this poor elephant as a crazed animal. None take these thoughts to any place higher, however, than the Kangaroo, who is appropriately named Kangaroo. She hops around with her child in her pouch and spends most of the movie attempting to plot for the speck to be destroyed since she sees it as an attempt to get children to start imagining and thinking God forbid. The Whos on the other hand are on the eve of a big celebration, which I can’t remember but I’m sure starts with ‘who’ something, and everything seems fine until the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell) begins to notice these tremors which are caused by Horton moving around to much while carrying their world. Everyone else in whoville notices the tremors as well but brush it off as…well… nothing. The Mayor is able to communicate with Horton and he attempts to tell the council and everyone else in Whoville that Horton exists, much like Horton attempts to tell everyone in his world that the Whos exist. The story revolves around no one believing either of these two characters and Horton’s journey to get the Whos to a safe and stable environment while the Kangaroo sends creatures to kill the speck.

The story in Horton Hears a Who is pretty basic and nothing is really new but I feel that the movie makes it work. You get the whole story of the two seemingly outsiders who don’t really fit in and just want everyone to understand, which is a part of the movie that I really like, and at the same time you get the story of the Mayor of Whoville and his son. His son does not want to be the heir to the Mayor chair despite his father’s assurance, but the movie falls a little short here in that it really never expands on the son’s character and we never truly get told what it is that the son wants to do.

The animation here is also pretty good. Much like it was in Bee Movie I would say that Horton is one fine looking animated film. The textures are nice and clean and sometimes even look beautiful while the characters themselves also are easy to look at without being too flashy. Another strong point of the movie is the simplicity of the jokes that it tells. Unlike many child aimed movies, Horton does not rely on fart jokes or slapstick really, except on few occasions, to get your laughs. Instead Carell and Carrey do their best to actually deliver witty or outrageously random lines that make us chuckle. Even Seth Rogen who plays Horton’s friend the mouse has some interesting lines thrown in.

Overall this movie was a pretty enjoyable experience. The story was above average and better than most animated movies out right now, except of course nearly every Pixar movie, and the animation was really nice. The movie which is just under 90 minutes doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and it doesn’t make parents want to blow their heads off or fall asleep in the theater. I give Horton Hears a Who high recommendations to anyone who has kids, and trust me, don’t let the babysitter take them, you should go as well. This is an enjoyable movie for all ages. 3.5/5

21

21 is a “heist” type film that stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, and Kate Bosworth. Takes place mostly at MIT College and of course in glorious Las Vegas. Unfortunately this film shoots for blackjack and it busts about halfway through.

Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an MIT student who has all the grades and requirements to get into Harvard Med but, like most adolescents who try to go to college, doesn’t have the near three hundred grand that he needs. During his days at MIT he is inventing a machine with his two friends for a science fair type situation when one day in class he manages to prove Issac Newton wrong and brand him a thief. This impresses the professor Micky Rosa who is played by Kevin Spacey. The movie then takes off when Ben is invited to a group of six people who go to Las Vegas on weekends and using their brilliant minds, count cards as a team to make as much money as they can. This is seen as Ben as a solution to his money problem and states that once he gets the three hundred grand he needs he’s out… yeah, right.

The acting for this movie is passable at best. Spacey perhaps gives the best performance of the group but that isn’t saying much. The students all play their parts under the radar except for the occasional attempt at some serious acting from Sturgess and Bosworth which never really pan out. Laurence Fishburne also stars as a casino security guard who tries furiously to capture Sturgess who he suspects is counting cards. Fishburne for the most part gave a mediocre performance except for a few times when his acting left me on the floor laughing at his horrid attempts of acting.

The story was adapted from the book Bringing Down the House which soars in comparison to this film. The film followed to take the premise of the book and then change every single detail along the way eliminating several of the book’s most exciting and interesting plot points.

Overall 21 is a movie that takes itself way too seriously. I’m not saying that the movie was horrible, by all means if you need to choose a movie this weekend between SuperHero movie and 21 then by all means go to 21, but I truly believe that I felt more realistic acting and entertainment in last week’s movie Horton Hears a Who.

2.5/5

Enchanted

If ever a movie delighted me as much as Enchanted did then I would love to remember what it was. The film stars Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and the eccentric Amy Adams in one of the most fun and upbeat movies of the year. The film is set at first in an animation world until the young girl Giselle meets Prince Edward and he declares that they will be married at once. The evil queen, played by Susan Sarandon, sees Giselle as the one who will remove her from her thrown so she sends Giselle, on her wedding day, down a portal to a land where, as she puts it, there are no happily ever afters. That place is of course real world, New York.

Once in the real world Amy Adams desperately tries to return to her own world but of course she is unable to. In New York after a night of horrible mistreatment she meets up with Patrick Dempsey’s character and ends up going with him, him being the only person who has shown her any kindness. The film revolves around these two characters as Giselle waits for Prince Edward, who is meanwhile searching for Giselle in New York alongside a chipmunk and a henchman of the Queen who is devout in making sure Edward and Giselle never find each other.

In a role that could have been played lazily by any actress, Amy Adams beautifully shines as the princess in what is definitely her career defining role. She takes the princess in the real world to a whole new level that makes her so believable as a princess yet you notice her change as she descends further and further into reality. This performance is so well that I in fact agree with the buzz out there and believe that she is up for an Oscar nod, whether she might win or not is up for speculation.

All of the other actors play their parts well alongside Adams and the movie plays out quite well. Another note that was quite interesting in this movie was the music. Alan Menken has been a favorite of mine ever since his work on the Little Mermaid and he does not disappoint here with the few, albeit quite good, songs that are thrown in. One especially that takes place in Central Park brings Enchanted to life in a mere three minutes showing us the magic that Giselle has brought to reality and the contrast between her and Robert (Patrick Dempsey).

Enchanted is a well made movie that unfortunately suffers from an unnecessary CGI ending climax but never fails to entertain. The movie most likely would not have done as well if it weren’t for Amy Adams, who in my mind IS this movie. If it weren’t for those last scenes with the dragon and the rooftop then this movie would have been close to my favorite light-hearted movie of the year, however despite the ending it still finds a place on one of my favorite theater experiences this year. I give it a 4/5.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone is an excellent film starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman. It is a drama movie about two detective type people (played by Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) who are hired to find a young girl that was recently kidnapped. It takes place in
Boston and it is a wonderful heart wrenching film that had me constantly thinking about what was going to happen next.

The two detectives are hired to help find the girl by the little girl’s aunt; they are hired by her because as they soon find out the mother is a drug addict who seems like she couldn’t care less about her child missing. We then learn that she had stolen some money earlier on and that the person she stole it from might have been the abductor of her child. Through several twists and turns Casey and Monaghan are paired up with Ed Harris and another officer to escort them across their investigation, although the chief, played by Morgan Freeman, does not exactly like that they are around and is not too optimistic on actually finding the child dead or alive.

The acting here is phenomenal, both Affleck and Monaghan shine in their performances although I feel that Monaghan’s character shows no true purpose until the very end of the film which is excellent so I will not spoil it here. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman also do their respectable roles well and Freeman is so convincing that he is one of the main reasons I sat in the theater thinking about this movie at the end.

This movie was of course directed by Ben Affleck, who is Casey Affleck’s brother, and he does it very, very well. Ben Affleck might be a small eye sore when watching him on the screen but one cannot deny his artistic creativity when he’s behind the camera. Ben Affleck also helped write the screenplay to this film and I believe that this may lead to another Oscar for Ben.

Gone Baby Gone is an exceptionally well made movie with a great plot and I view it as one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. I highly recommend it to all fans of the drama genre though I must warn you that there is excessive language in the film but it’s rightfully there of course. The movie has its twists and turns, most of them are pretty good and unexpected, and overall I give this movie a perfect 5/5.

Rendition

Rendition is a movie that surprises me. It is a movie where filmmakers try to get several big
Hollywood faces to pass a message to us, at least that’s what it seems like. This movie stars the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, and Alan Arkin. Rendition can be classified as a political drama but there is much more to it than that.  It takes place when the husband of Reese Witherspoon, played by Omar Metwally, is taken into custody by the CIA as a potential terrorist.

Reese tries to get him back and at the same time we are introduced to Jake Gyllenhaal who is at a square when a bomb goes off and kills his partner. We are also introduced into a third storyline of a young girl named
Fatima who wants to be with her boyfriend even though her father is forcing her to marry someone else. The main plotline involves Jake Gyllenhaal overseeing the torture session of Reese’s husband to try and get information, while back at home Witherspoon tries to find out where her husband is.

The actors do their best in this movie and it’s actually quite good. From Reese Witherspoon to Meryl Streep who of course shines in anything she does. Jake Gyllenhaal also exceeds expectations and you can feel his pain as he watches the poor man, who he himself deems as innocent, being tortured. The man doing the torturing is the father of
Fatima who has been missing for nearly a week and we know that she is with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend however has secret meetings that she does not know about and one day while out at what seems like a party the cops arrive to arrest them all. Fatima and her boyfriend get away but his brother is unfortunately captured.

Overall however this movie just doesn’t really work for me.  It has wonderful actors but the story just seems a little weak and can’t really follow through. At the end I was nearly completely confused although I understand it but the movie just as a whole does not work I think. It is however wonderfully acted and shot, but it is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for any movie theater fun. Rendition is a serious movie but for me it’s just a slight swing and a miss. I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

The Kingdom

I recently went to watch the Kingdom which is a movie that stars the likes of Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and my personal favorite Jason Bateman. It is an action drama that takes place after two bombs explode in Saudi Arabia on American soil. Jamie Foxx would like to get his team out to investigate but he is denied and ends up going behind his superior’s back to get permission. He and the other three go alone to Saudi Arabia where they are met by an officer played wonderfully by Ashraf Bahrom who is charged with keeping them safe throughout their five days of staying in Saudi Arabia.

The movie starts with a small background check on the history of the relation between America and Saudi Arabia which ends with the terrorist attack on the twin towers. When Jamie Foxx’s team gets there to find out the killers he and his team are outraged when they learn that they cannot interfere with the Arabs or collect any evidence at all. Foxx is determined to find out who is the bomber since his close friend died in the blast, but Farris (Bahrom) understands but refuses. They are kept locked up in a gym each night for their safety and must always wear bullet proof vests as a precaution.

The actors all get their job done, Jamie Foxx being the action man that he is portrays his character as well as he can along with the rest of his team. Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman do their best to give the movie a light feeling in their one liners and rants about the smallest things. Jennifer Garner truly is trying her best but I am afraid that I can’t break her from her Alias and chick flick stature to star in a movie like this. She is not bad, but there is definitely room for improvement.

The sets are also built especially to show the difference between the Saudi’s and the Americans. The Americans are contained within a wall. Inside this wall they have their softball field where the explosion occurred, the grass is green they have trees and real nice houses and all the people dress up like it’s a normal American summer day. Outside the wall the town looks beat up and complete sand, the people are all covered up and everyone seems to stare at Jamie Foxx as he goes by to add to the dramatic effect.

Overall this movie is a straight Americans save the world again plot with a little politics thrown into it. Nevertheless the movie works for me on many levels though the beginning is not exactly for the faint of heart. I think there was so much more that could have been done with this but for the most part director Peter Berg has pleased me with this movie. I give it a 3.5/5.

 Every once in a while, and in modern days every couple of months, there comes a movie that is horribly focused on trying to be stupid and funny that it completely deteriorates people’s respect for comedies. Balls Of Fury is such a movie. I’m all for a good comedy, give me a good one liner or a hilarious situation and I’ll sit through it, what I cannot sit through is stuff like this, Date and Epic Movie, or the Scary Movie franchise. I do not find it funny, and I don’t think anyone does, when someone slips on something and then flies insanely flipping in the air.

The whole using a sports ball as a metaphor for “something” else was fine for the movie dodge ball, which was a breath of fresh air for slapstick comedy for me, but seems like a carbon copy in BOF. The whole movie is like a spoof on sports and Asian action films; unfortunately it carries all of the problems of both of those genres and merges them together.  It tries to take some action, some slapstick, and some competitive sports; the result is a movie messier than anything I’ve ever seen.

Dan Fogler stars in this movie as the washed up used to be the best ping pong player. He now stars on stage as a small family act performing little tricks with ping pong balls.  This all changes when a secret agent played by George Lopez comes and tells him that the man who murdered his father when he was a child is a bad person, oh really, and is holding a tournament for the best ping pongers in the world. He is out of shape however and apparently must receive training from one of the best.

The whole training scenes are stupid clichés running from the master doing a slow interpretive dance like motion, and even the use of a lucky cricket. The master also has a daughter who is played by Maggie Q. I like Maggie Q in Live Free or Die Hard, but her talents seem completely wasted here. Of course Fogler makes it into the tournament and we finally get to see Christopher Walken. The movie tries too hard to be funny but it is predictable, it is stupid, and put plainly it is just not funny. I give it a 1.5/ 5 simply because Christopher Walken can always make me laugh at least once. 

Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen star in this film about a Russian mafia family whose security is threatened when Watts finds a diary containing secrets from a rape victim that could put them away for a very long time. The movie flows along with an incredible story behind that might at times confuse the audience but nevertheless is there. Naomi Watts plays the character of Anna who is just trying to get the girl’s diary translated because the girl was pregnant and died giving birth meaning that if Watts doesn’t find a family member the child will go into foster care. She finds a card in the diary that leads her to the home of this family and she informs the owner of the building, who is the father, of the diary.

This sets off a chain of events in which the father is in dire need of getting that diary in order to destroy the evidence. Viggo is constantly seen next to Vincent Cassel who is the son of the father played by Armin Mueller Stahl. Viggo constantly interacts with Watts’ character claiming that he knows nothing and is only the driver of Cassel. In a series of twists and turns after Anna gets the diary translated by her uncle she is led to realize what kind of trouble she’s put herself and her family in.

The plot is complicated even further by other key stories which I will not mention here so as to not spoil the movie. Just know that Eastern Promises is a delight to watch. It is a movie with an excellent screenplay and the acting is top notch. After seeing this movie you will feel the need to discuss it with your friends and family members. It is a thrill ride of a movie and it gets a 4/5 from me.

The Simpsons Movie is about the Simpsons family in what I think is the funniest movie of the year so far. Dan Castallaneta and the rest of the cast do a great job of voicing the characters they have been doing for over eighteen years. As a fan of the show I must say that this movie plays out like one really long Simpsons episode, preferably from the earlier seasons. All the gags are there, the animation is a little sharper than the show but what do you expect with a bigger budget, and of course it’s cruel and most of the times politically incorrect humor is present as well. I believe that both the fans of the show as well as the newcomers to the franchise can enjoy this movie. However, I do think that there will be some parents that are offended at what their children are watching, including a scene where a young male character says he likes men after he sees, (and we see as well), a full shot of Bart’s frontal areas. Then again, what does one expect from The Simpsons. I believe that this is the second greatest cartoon to movie transfers second only to the South Park Movie. Still The Simpsons Movie is perhaps the funniest animated movie in years and I am giving it well deserved praise but I must say that in terms of quality this year’s Ratatouille shall be picking up the animated awards. That being said I give this movie a 4 out of 5.

What was once a laughed at movie, (remember that trailer with the space probe on mars?), has become one of the biggest hits of the summer, but does it deserve that title?

I went in expecting a stupid funny action movie, with the main character being a geek who gets a transformer. I got that. The movie overall works for some reason, it’s got so many clichés in it but it works for me.

Shia LaBeouf is excellent in this movie, his comedic timing is perfect, and Megan Fox is brought in as the hot high school girl who knows more about cars than probably all the guys in her school. Late at night the new car that Shia bought turns on and he chases it thinking that it’s being stolen.

Eventually the car reveals its true form to him once a bad Transformer attacks him and the two become friends, so to speak. Both Transformers, good and bad, are searching for The Cube which is a source of life to them and their planet. The trouble begins when a Military base in Iraq is attacked by a transformer and the Secretary of Defense has many people working on trying to figure out who attacked them.

There are many plots and back stories that are told and most are unnecessary. Megan Fox’s past being one of the major unnecessary ones. The point is this movie is about the Transformers, throw in people but not so many, and not so many important ones. Despite all this however the movie is fun to watch and funny, until you get to the very end.

Of course at the end the Transformers, Decepticons and Autobots, have to fight it out. This whole fight is filled with the corniest dialogue you will ever here such as “You want a piece of me?” “No I want two pieces.” Then the bad one rips a good one in half. Of course the Transformers have always been like that so that is acceptable but the problem is with the fight itself. There is so much going on that during some points you can’t tell one transformer apart from the other, and it’s just a huge amount of crashing and explosions. This movie was a good popcorn flick but never elevates to much more than that. I give it 3 out of 5.

It is once again time to go back and watch our faithful Bourne in all his finesse action scenes filmed by the camera man with Parkinson’s disease. Matt Damon, Joan Allen, and Julia Stiles reprise their roles in this third film which has just as much action and fast paced syndrome as the first two in what I believe is the greatest movie of the trilogy. Paul Greengrass, the director, is a master at capturing the fight sequences and I truly think he’s set the bar on which all future action movies should be judged on.

The story is excellent and riveting and you truly feel for Bourne this time around as he finally approaches the end of his journey to find out who he is. While on the topic I would like to add that Matt Damon does an exquisite job as Jason Bourne and it is probably one of his greatest performances. It’s truly a shame that movies like these get bypassed during Oscar season because the acting could get Matt his nomination, as well as Greengrass for that matter.

Of course this movie does suffer from the same fault as the previous two which is what I call the Action Hero Syndrome. No matter what happens to this guy whether it be getting shot and falling fifty feet or driving off the side of a building, he just brushes himself off and keeps going. I do believe you have to suspend belief in these movies but it’s at a reasonable level at least.

This movie has it all for me, the action, the story, the aesthetic value. It even has David Strathairn who brings a great talent to the role of Noah Vosen who is set out on the demise of Jason Bourne. Despite its few flaws this is a great movie and the best of this summer’s “Threequels”. Great direction, great acting, great movie; I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

We once again join Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in what is to be the final installment in the rush hour series. Now to begin with I am a fan of the first movie and I kind of liked the second one. With this third one Brett Ratner is back in the director’s seat and he gives us basically the exact same jokes again. There is a difference from the other two movies, while the last two played host to each character’s home country we now go to Paris.

The movie is filled with more American and French jokes obviously and plays out the same way the other two did. Jackie Chan as usual does his flying stunts and is pretty creative and Chris Tucker will never shut up. In the series Christ Tucker went from funny and entertaining, to loud and obnoxious, to just plain loud.

If this movie had many traces of originality I must have missed them because it seemed as if the writers had no idea what to do anymore so basically here is what came out of their ideas. Consul Han, now an ambassador, come back as does Soo Yung, his daughter. For those who don’t remember they were in the first Rush Hour. This movie once again ends up with Soo Yung being kidnapped and needs to be rescued.

Then the movie throws us a twist, Han was shot by a man who turns out to be the brother of Jackie Chan, so he lets him go. The whole movie is basically about Carter and Lee getting their friendship back together because of a mishap that happened after the incident in the second movie.

The climax fight in this movie is strange and different from the others in many ways. For once Lee is fighting one guy alone and Carter is fighting several, not only that he’s winning. He was now a black belt apparently. What is surprising and sometimes annoying is the fact that Lee has several chances to end it and kill the bad guy but he always ends up trying to save him. Each time it gets more beyond belief to the point where you hope Lee dies because of his stupidity.

Rush Hour 3 is filled with the same gags, the same joke, and the same story. It is in itself a bad movie however I can’t say that I was really bored. This movie does have it’s few moments of laughter and enjoyment, but there are just so few of those. As a fan of the series I am disappointed at this third installment and I give Rush Hour 3 a 2.5/5.

Superbad is a movie about two teenage boys who want to get with the girls they like before they finish high school, sound familiar? Well it is. There have been so many teen comedies lately all using the same crude jokes and cussing trying to make us laugh, the only difference in between movies like those and Superbad is that Superbad does it right.

Amidst all of the penis jokes and porn site reference the two main characters, Seth and Evan, have a definitive bond between them and you see that between all their bickering and arguing. Evan is a relatively shy kid and Seth is basically a loud mouth who says anything he wants to say when he wants to say it.

The whole movie plays out during the timeline of one day and it is incredible all the things that happen. Of course following Seth and Evan on their crazy attempts to get alcohol would be pretty bland if they were the only people involved in the movie, so the movie introduces to us three of the funniest characters.

Fogell, a “friend” of Seth and Evan gets a Fake ID that day so the two tell him to get them some liquor for the party to which they’ve been miraculously invited to. Everything seems like it’s going to be fine until Seth and Evan doubt the ID when they see Fogell has changed his name to McLovin, yes, just McLovin.

When buying the liquor the ID goes through but the store is then mugged which introduces two cops played by Seth Green and Bill Hader. These cops are hilarious in the fact that they say they will drive Fogell to his party and in the meantime they brake about more laws than crooks. It is nonetheless funny when they hear sirens and all go running yelling “The Cops!”

This movie has great laughs and even sometimes goes to a point where you might gag a little. How the writers thought up of some of the things these kids go through is beyond me, but it works. Superbad is easily one of the funniest movies of the year so far and one of the greatest Teen movies ever. I’d like to thank Judd Apatow for reviving to me the comedy genre. I give Superbad a well deserved 4/5.

The longest Harry Potter book is transformed into the shortest Harry Potter movie yet. To me that sums up pretty much my overall feelings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a fan of the books I am revolted by the many, many things left out in this movie but of course it was to be expected. Movie wise it is the best movie by far growing even darker as the series goes on. Harry is faced with new troubles as several people, even some fellow Gryffindors, don’t believe his story that the dark lord Voldemort has returned.

This movie is filled with dazzling effects and our three main actors do their best with the roles they are given, however you will notice that Ron and Hermione, played by Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, are given smaller screen time as the movies progress despite being a major part of the story. The story progresses rather quickly and seems a little rushed at times but overall as a movie the timing does work quite well.

The movie’s dramatic scene in which a major character dies is extremely down sized by the telling of in the book and I believe that it happened too fast too garner much emotion at the time of its happening. This movie however did do two things that were close to perfection, and those were Imelda Staunton and Evanna Lynch. Staunton plays the role of Dolores Umbridge, a mean nasty old trout, with such great poise that you just can’t help but hate the very core of the character, and Lynch plays the eccentric oddball Luna Lovegood so well to the point where I felt like I was imagining her like I had while I was reading the book.

Harry Potter is getting better movie wise as they go along and this one indeed tops them all both in film quality and in worst book adaptation. However, I still recommend this movie to all the Harry Potter fans out there giving it a 3.5 out of 5 and an Enjoyable Experience for me.

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