The good things first – Helena Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange – devious, evil and totally believable. Imelda Staunton as that old hag, Dolores Umbridge. The dark side of the novel has been brought out brilliantly. The fight in the Ministry of Secrets.
The bad – is not as good as the book, which itself was not great. The book was long, and even though the movie tries to capture as much as it can, it misses out a lot and there is a lot of discontinuity.
Radcliffe plays his part as a frustrated Harry really well and Rupert Grint is loveable as ever. Emma Watson is cute as (swoons) Hermoine, but she does not play that significant a role in the movie. For that matter, no one does. And that is the entire problem. Other than Harry, no on else has a beefy role and it shows on the movie. I used to love Richard Harris as Dumbledore and the Michael Gambon, though he tries hard, does not match up. I think Gandalf from Lord of the Rings would have been a better replacement.
The kiss between Cho Chang and Potter isn’t worth all the hype and Ginny Weasly’s character has been built up slowly but solidly. The look in her eyes before Cho and Harry get “snoggy” is priceless. You can just feel her love for Harry.
If you are a Potter fan you will like the movie, even though you feel that many important parts have been paid less attention to. Go watch it. I would rate it 7 on 10.
PS: I am again in love with Nauheed Cyrusi. Watched Anwar partly last night.