I like this movie a lot more than most fans but that doesn’t mean I can put this much higher on the list than here. To be fair, director David Yates had to adapt probably the worst book in the series. It says a lot when you make the shortest film in the series out of the longest book.
If people remember anything from this movie specifically, it’s Dolores Umbridge. A villain who many feel is even worse than Voldemort himself. That’s high praise, but I have also heard that not everyone loves to hate Umbridge and many feel that they hate her too much to enjoy it.
There are fantastic scenes like the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, Sirius’ death, and the whole Dumbledore’s Army plot is a great young adult element.
It feels weirdly juvenile at times given that it has just come in the aftermath of Goblet of Fire. The big problem with the film is one of tone. You’ve got this full-on young adult high school drama mixed with the very dark consequences of the previous film and they haven’t been mixed well.