I went in having read just one review, that this movie didn't quite have the foward movement of the previous films. I won't spoil and say what it DID have, but it was mesmerizing to me as a Harry Potter movie fan; and very befitting the magical environment.
When the magic was used, it wowed. The twists, and even nuance of the 3 main character's expressions in some scenes came across as almost an electric current, or more accurately, "Did you see that? Did I just see that?"
There are not many times I can report that a movie had no slow areas. This one IS one of those times. I found myself checking my watch only at 1:30 and 2:30 when it was within 2 minutes of the end. The first was because we were out of popcorn.. AGAIN.