My friend and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie at the theatres yesterday. That I saw a film during its theatre run is a small wonder in itself; having seen the two movies prior to this one, I figured this one was well worth the money.

I was in no way disappointed.

I’ve never read the books; my commentary is from a film viewer’s perspective. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, though I’m sure anyone who’s read the books know what’s up. The ones who haven’t read them, however, and are out to watch the movie, at least need to be treated fairly.

My first comment on this film from its very beginning, is that it is grim beyond belief. I thought that it was fairly bleak in Azkaban, but this one has taken the cake so far. Not even during the high points of the Tri-Wizard Cup did any lustre shine through. Just points of light in darkness.

Secondly, I need to get in depth on the nature of the Defense Against The Dark Arts class. In the past three movies, maybe in consideration of the students’young age, that class was marked with almost a tinge of frivolity. In the current movie, upon introduction of the Three Unforgiveable Curses, I thought to myself: This is how a class like that should be taught.

The last point I have about the movie is the contrast to what happened in Azkaban. In the previous film, Hermione and Harry go three hours into the past to do the right thing and save two innocent lives, this after having done nothing to save the condemned hippogrif. In this film, Harry did the “right thing” at the end of the tournament and in doing so got Cedric Diggory in trouble. Of course, “what ifs” can be debated until we’re blue in the face, but this is the fact of life that Harry had to take with him this time: sometimes, we’d do the right thing and it would still lead to people getting harmed anyway. But you got to do it for your sake anyway.

This movie might just make me pick up the next two books considering the time I have to wait for the next movies to be shot and released.