As someone who enjoyed the earlier movies more than the recent ones, I am pleased to say that this movie was not only gripping, but it never felt slow or weighted down. True (enough) to the book, this movie was mildly funny, but mostly it is dominated by magic and action scenes, which really worked to make the movie more enjoyable.
I read and loved this series, as did my mom, brother, and most of my friends. I went to see it opening night, and tried not to be overexcited. Most of the minor characters were cast beautifully, but I was disappointed by the acting by Kristen Stewart. She seemed angry, and she twitched. What made me the saddest was that they cut several major scenes from the book and instead replaced them with scenes of their own. For some reason, even the book's humorous scenes were delivered by all as being extremely melodramatic, and nearly everything was hilariously overacted. If you read the books, don't expect too much. If you haven't read them, watch the movie, then go and read the books.