Let me just say that I've read all the books and I'm a Harry Potter fan, but this movie was such a let down. Wasn't prepared to be blown away or anything, but you really got the feel from this movie that a conscious effort was made to avoid upstaging the last movie (part 2). The first 1/4 (or maybe even half-hour or so) of the movie was good. The movie opens up with a bang, and there's some pretty good action. Soon after however, things quickly begin to die off. The movie drags on, the plot significantly deviates from the book and the attempts to create additional action scenes throughout were somewhat insignificant. Essentially, the movie opens up strong, plateau's throughout the rest and at the very end ends on an extremely depressing note. This wouldn't have been a real issue had the movie not dragged on. The last movie ended with Dumbledore dying (ending on a depressing note) but it didn't leave you with a bitter feeling because the movie was well done. If you're looking to compare it to another movie, I'd say it stays at about the same pace as the second twilight movie New Moon. When the movie was over on the opening day the audience was dead quiet, and it was a real awkward situation. Bottom-line, least favorite of all the movies in the series.