[PTeppic]

There was always going to be a huge problem condensing c. 9-10 hours of material (well, that's how long it takes me to read it) into a 150 minute movie. What we have to hang on to is that nothing crucial will have been left out, as JKR has said she gives hints to the script writers. There will be other ways round anything that is missed, or that it can be overlooked. In this case, the locket is obviously one of those things.

Despite, or because of the massive scything of the plot, and sub-plots, there is so much cut that it's hard to know where to start commenting. Conversely, some of the lines we did get might be telling: Luna's last line, that things we thought lost can turn up again. Anyone else find that oddly precognitive for maybe book 7? (Guess we'll find out in 6 days!) As it was, I was surprised they bothered including Luna, since they missed the whole Quibbler sub-plot (not least due to the severe reduction of Rita Skeeter's part); it was almost as though they included her to keep things fresh and new (thinking aloud: but she was needed for the finale at the Ministry, and to also be able to see the Thestrals etc.).

The biggest thing I find with the HP films is that I know what's coming, or meant to be coming. I did something similar with Star Wars: Phantom Menace: I read the book of the screenplay before my first showing and it meant there was no surprise, no wonder, less joy, less excitement. I suspect it's the same with HP. I'm so busy following the plot in my head, remembering/predicting what's next, realising something's been cut etc., that I don't enjoy the film so much. I can't knock it too much: it's a great attempt at condensing Phoenix into a single movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But not as much as some of the others this summer.