The director's lack of focus distracts from the purpose of this book as the key to understanding the central characters of the series outside the children, Prof. Dumbledore, Prof. Snape and Voldemort. The ending fell limp after mild build-ups that never approached tension. The tacked on faux action scene in the second act was awkward, and upon review was inserted to break up flat story telling. Review of the trailers feature scenes from this action sequence, misleading an audience that showed up for one movie and received something else. To no one's delight.