Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Plotline

OK, so having said I was both disappointed and really impressed by the latest Harry Potter film, I guess I should try to explain what I meant.

I was disappointed because I didn't think the main plot of the film was very strong, or contributed much to the overall plot of the series.

The film seemed to be completely dominated by the kind of "background colour" events that normally surround the real plot --- Quiddich, weird minor characters doing whacky and amusing things (typically involving special effects), parties and such like --- almost to the exclusion of "the real plot."

So in terms of the overall "Harry versus The Big Baddie" plot, my first thought, as I left the cinema, was that "not a lot happened."

On reflection, that's not true. But what did happen largely happened "in the background", as a number of disjointed, un-emphasised events going on around the edges of daily life in Hogwarts. That is, I guess, the way of crises in the real world (did someone say "climate change"?) But it meant that the film didn't really build to its climax, it just seemed to have one at the relevant time, almost out of a sense of duty.

But on the other hand, the time just flashed by. When the final credits rolled, I couldn't believe it -- I even (very briefly!) wondered whether they had put the opening credits far further into the film than normal!

But no: they really were the final credits, and I'd been sitting there, completely engrossed (and, I believe, fully awake:-), for two and a half hours.

And I think that was really impressive. The last time I experienced that kind of "No! That can't be the end!" feeling was watching "Roger Rabbit" (and that was only an hour and a half).

So: really impressed despite being slightly disappointed...