haha, what'd I tell ya? I was actually sitting in the theater thinking "Alice is
not going to like this movie."
k...
I loved Buckbeak!
I thought the songbirds that flew too close to the Whomping Willow were hysterical. My girls loved that bit too.
Yeah, I liked that part.
I was impressed with the werewolf transformation as well.
I didn't like the werewolf transformation part that well, mainly because I thought he looked like a grey, hairier, skinny human with an abnormally large head.
I don't know if it was their lines, (taken from the book of course), or the actual performance of the twins that I liked but I was quite pleased with them too.
I definately agree, they were much better this time around. I think it was both (they got better lines, and they've improved as actors)
The scene in the boys dorm with the magical candy was neat and it explained why in the trailers I thought I was seeing Luna with the lion hat (it was Ron)
Yeah, I thought this was a fun little cut scene...
Ok here is the bit that most will disagree with me on:
The stuff that was not so good:
Tom from the Leaky Cauldron (see comments below)
Absolutely agree
The clothes were awful!
I don't know... it was a definate step up from wearing their uniforms all the time, which I find to be highly unrealistic.
The hair on the twins and Malfoy was dreadful.
Like I said - Fred and George look like they visited 1975... I didn't mind Malfoy's hair, though. I never liked the slick-back look, and this way he reminds me of a guy I went to school with (who, coincidently, had the same lovely personality as Draco Malfoy

)
Crabbe and Goyle did not look anything like big thuggish body guard types.
This, I think, is where you come into a problem when you hire actors when they're 11 to carry roles through adolescence. Matthew Lewis (Neville) is no longer the chubby kid in the books. Crabbe especially has slimmed up (happens to most boys when they reach adolescence). Despite how unattractive Hermione is in the books, Emma Watson is growing into quite a young lady. Poor Harry what's-his-name who plays Dudley either has to keep getting fatter and fatter, or has to have some serious padding (he's very large in this movie). It's not their fault, but they could have tried to make Crabbe and Goyle more intimidating through their behavior to make up for the fact that there's not much of a size difference.
The fact that Hogwarts looked like it was the condemned wreck that muggles see when they happen upon it
I actually kinda liked that it was so grimy... It's supposed to be 1000 years old. I've lived in a house that was built in the late ninteenth century, and it didn't look as nice and clean and new as the Pre-PoA Hogwarts did.
The shrieking shack scene was a huge letdown
absolutely
as was
That ridiculous romp through the forest with Lupin hot on the heels of Harry and Hermione in the process of saving Harry.
The one good part about this scene: I love it when Hermione calls for Lupin, and then when he starts coming towards them, says "Yeah, I didn't think of that."
The Actors:
Daniel's performance has improved somewhat but that kid can not cry to save his life.
I definately agree. In most parts of the movie, Daniel Radcliffe had made a great improvement as an actor, but they should have left the Invisibility Cloak on him if he couldn't do a better job crying than that.
Ron was alright
Actually, this is the first film I've actually liked Ron in. He got some wonderful lines that really bring the character that's in the books to life, and Rupert Grint pulled it off nicely. Ron is such a fun character to read, and I hated him in the first two movies. He was one of my favorites in this one.
As Athena said; Hermione has become much more touchy feely which actually is OK with me. She was such a little snot in the first film.
Actually, as the books progress, Hermione does become a lot more touchy-feely
I thought that Malfoy was a little too wimpy. OK I know that he is a bit of a wimp even in the books but not that much!
Ahhhh... like Ron, Draco is one of those characters that I love reading, but hated watching in the first two films. I think they got the essence of Malfoy perfectly.
Snape was wonderful as usual but well Alan Rickman is Alan Rickman.
I would have liked to have seen him more (did they even mention the bit about Snape having found out about Lupin while at school, etc.?)
I will have to mull it over a bit before I decide on Lupin. That actor, doesn't he usually play a bad guy? Is he the same bloke in the movie Dragon Heart?
No idea... I still think he did a great job with almost everything, except the Shrieking Shack, when I think things should have gone a little slower and we see Lupin putting the pieces together like he does in the books. But I can understand why they did it the way they did: all that confusion about what in the world Lupin is doing acting friendly with Sirius is easy to write, but hard to pull off
I don't think I will bother going to the theater to see GOF if it is the same director because I think he did a spectacularly lousy job with this film.
Nope, it's a different director again. Mike Newall, I think he directed Four Weddings and a Funeral.