This was such a good movie, but it could've been so much better! I read the book for this movie only when it first came out, but I still remembered enough to tell that a ton of the side stuff was left out or abridged for the movie. I definitely wouldn't have minded if the movie was an extra hour longer, because it came up short for me.
I loved what there was, but I just wish there was more of it. I came out of the theater feeling like I had sort of been ripped off. Of course, I probably felt this way because I was so used to the other lengthy films.
Basically, in this episode, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) struggles to warn the world of magic about the rise of the dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), as the situation slowly but surely gets worse just like the last time he came to power. To make matters worse, the Ministry of Magic's Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) has convinced Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy) and everyone else in the magic world that You-Know-Who is still dead. As she threatens to undermine Harry and his good friend Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Harry must depend on his friends (Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Emma Watson) to aid him in the coming war.
I just wish there was more character development regarding his friends and particularly Sirius Black (Oldman). Black has had such an important role, but it was definitely minimized in this film so that by the end, I still felt he was a mystery.
Acting is still as good as always (especially on the part of Staunton).
Special effects are even better than before, and I really liked the whole thing overall.
I just wish the movie treated the book better. Oh well, it's still a great film, and should be seen as soon as possible!
