Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan - Review

Movie
Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan
Director
Vinayan
Music
Benny Ignatious
Cast
Indrajeet, Jayasurya, Bhama, Sherin, Jagathy

By Moviebuzz

Vinayan seems to be out of form these days. His latest Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan, fails to impress even though it has timely message. The trouble with the film is that it falls between two stools, and post interval there is no real story to say.

Hareendran (Indrajith) is a software tycoon who runs Starlines a very successful listed company. His right-hand man is his childhood friend Gopalakrishnan (Jayasurya), called GK. Hareendran is a nice guy, who is straightforward and trusts people blindly, while GK is a cunning fox in sheep's clothes. His sole aim in life is to con Hareendran and take over his company one day. Hareendran's mother (Ambika) fixes his marriage to Indu (Bhama) who is in love with Alex (Manikuttan), a self styled left sympathizer who threw up his IT job for the party! And GK uses his girlfriend Pooja (Sherin) to influence Hareendran to make him the executive director in Starlines.

The villainous GK uses others like a pawn in a chess game, and manipulates them to his advantage which results in Indu running away with Alex a few minutes before Hareendran was to tie the Thali around her neck! This leaves Hareendran shattered, and he becomes an alcoholic and leaves GK to run the company. But a few days later GK is brutally murdered and Hareendran is accused of killing him, and a media witch-hunt start and he is unable to defend himself even after the court acquits him and in the climax the real murderer is found!

The media targeting innocent persons and tarnishing their image is a regular occurrence in Kerala It is a very topical subject, which could have been handled with a little more care by the director. The other message in the film is about today's youth's craze for material comforts in a society ruled by share prices in the stock exchange. Indrajith looks uncomfortable in the innocent tycoon's role, Jagathy, Salim Kumar provide their usual comedy, while Jayasurya has done a similar smiling villain in Arabikatha. Bhama who made a sensational debut in Nivediyam has hardly any role, Sherin is there to provide glamour. Usually a Vinayan film will have atleast one hummable number, but Benny Ignatious's music lacks punch.

On the whole Vinayan had a very topical issue, which after his commercial packaging for entertainment purpose lost its focus and fizzled out. Better luck next time!

Verdict: Average

Azhagiya Tamil Magan - Review

‘Azhagiya Tamil Magan’ banks heavily on Vijay’s charm and performance. The Ilaya Thalapathy has lived up to the challenge created by the huge success of ‘Pokkiri’. He looks stylish and handsome. He lights up the screen by his dynamic performance. Director Bharathan has exploited Vijay’s strengths well. He has provided a perfect entertainer for Vijay fans by giving ample chance, including dual role, to Vijay to come up with a stylish, action packed, romantic heroism. Vijay plays both hero and villain. The first half is filled with romance and a mystery surrounding Vijay’s Extra Sensory Perception (ESP), while the second half is dominated by the tug of war between the two Vijays. Let us first look at the storyline. Guru (Vijay) is an athlete and business management student. Abhinaya (Shreya) is the daughter of a business baron (Ashish Vidyarthi). They meet and, what else, fall in love. The movie goes on to show how the lovers manage to get the permission of the parents. In the meantime, you get to see a different dimension in the tale while the romantic drama is unfolding. Vijay visualizes some bizarre scenes inside his mind. The scenes are disturbing and worse, they become true in the real life. A psychiatrist (played by Dr. Rudran, a professional psychiatrist) confirms that it is ESP power and says that the imageries visualized by Guru would actually happen sooner or later. Unfortunately Guru visualizes another scene which he would never like to see happening. Sensing a danger to his sweetheart, he runs away to Mumbai from her to save her. In Mumbai he stumbles upon a person, who looks alike himself. This gives him a different meaning of the horrible incident visualized by him. Before catching the man, played by Vijay again, Guru gets into an accident and the new man moves to Chennai where he is mistaken as Guru. Stylish and care free Prasad, the look alike Guru, is a greedy person, who would do anything to earn money and enjoy life. Abinaya mistakes him for Guru and gets him to her house. Sensing his strength, Prasad decides to act as Guru and marry the rich Abhi. The real Guru comes back and tells everyone the truth. But no one is ready to believe him, as he is outplayed by the wicked Prasad in each and every move. Finally the truth prevails but not before the tensed battle between the two with lot of twists and actions. Before going in to details we must say that ESP is not a proven scientific fact and hence the director putting it as a matter of fact is unacceptable. We could have digested it if the director had presented it in a different manner without pretending to be scientific. Coming back to the script, the director has come up with a new idea in form of ESP to provide twist in the tale. Though the idea of double role is not new, Bharathan had made the tough of war between the two interesting by conceiving a few interesting sequences. The first half however, is dragging too much to the comfort of the audience. The efforts to convince the father and mother, one by one, play as speed breakers. The way the girl falls for the hero lacks imagination. The ESP imageries and Vijay fighting with Vijay have been executed well. The director has done well in presenting Vijay - the USP of the film. The hero looks handsome, and stylish. The second Vijay in particular, is simply awesome in his styles. Vijay has presented a virtual treat for his fans by his mannerisms, actions, voice modulations, and body language. Shreya, arguably possessing the most stunning and sexy figure among today’s heroines is simply ravishing. She and the director, of course, pretty well know that acting is not her forte and hence bank on her USP, which is her curvaceous body, to make the proceedings, especially the songs attractive. Namitha is effectively used for a scintillating song. Santhanam as Guru’s friend doesn’t go overboard and provides some comical relief. Good performers like Sayaji Shinde and Ashish Vidyarthi are wasted in insignificant roles. A.R. Rahman’s music is outstanding. In fact that songs sound better when heard – and seen – in the movie. ‘Maduraiku Pokaathey’ and ‘Valaiyapatti’ are quite attractive. The remix version is more convincing when seen in the context. The background score is effective in the scenes when Guru gets ESP images. Balasubramaniam’s camera work is spectacular, especially in song sequences. The scenic beauty of Phuket Island and other locations are amazingly captured. Larencce has made wonders in choreographing. Vijay’s dancing movements are quite stylish. Overall, ‘Azhagiya Tamil Magan’ has nothing new to offer but the movie definitely entertains.

Vel - Review

Hari, one of the best commercial directors in Tamil, has lived up to the expectations in 'Vel'. He has presented a racy film that provides a perfect entertainer. The movie has action, sentiment, and romance. The script, which is compact, is well complemented by the performances.

The two layered story unfolds nicely. The story opens with a family with a twin children losing one. The separated boys grow up in different environments. The one grows in Chennai becomes an officer (Vasudevan) in a private investigative agency and the other grows in Dindukkal becomes a typical rusty young man (Vetrivel).

The city bred Suriya charms VJ Asin through his professional ethics. Rusty Vel is engaged in the bloody tussle with Kalabhavan Mani, who has deep rooted enmity against the family. Vasu is full of brains and smile while Vel lives with sickle and dangerous duels.

Vasu’s mother (Saranya) could not forget her lost son. She is longing to bring him back to her home. But she couldn’t find his whereabouts. The family, in which Vel lives, is so affectionate with him. Especially the grand mother (Lakshmi) is emotionally dependent on him.

VJ Asin accidentally finds Vel and informs Vasu. Vasu goes to the village and meets his brother. The family refuses to send Vel to his original family. Vasu, understanding their unadulterated affection towards Vel, agrees to give up his claim.

But he has one request. Vel should go to Chennai pretending as Vasu and live with his mother. Vasu in turn would act as Vel in the village. Vel accepts.

Vasu continues Vel’s struggle against powerful Kalabhavan Mani but with a different approach. Vasu uses his brain and investigating network instead of muscle power. The rules of the game changes, and Mani finds himself cornered.

The movie goes on narrating fierce fight and sentimental drama between the two families over Vel.

Director Hari is known for his compact script and smart execution. Though he has proven his caliber in a few films life 'Samy', 'Vel' is easily his best film. It showcases his ability to create a racy entertainer. He has treaded in a safe path to make a commercially viable film by choosing a routine theme based on sentiment and action. But the treatment he has given to the story is commendable. You cannot single out a scene that is boring or redundant.

He has conceived and executed the action and romantic sequences equally well. The pace is ensured from the word go. The two dimensional climax – action and sentiment – is quite appealing.

For Suriya, the roles are not as challenging as the ones in 'Pithamagan', 'Gajini' or 'Perazhagan'. He gets routine roles but his handling makes them look special. He breathes fire as 'Vel' and spreads charm as Vasu. Though there is no much difference in the get ups, he has differentiated both roles by his body language and dialogue delivery. His action in emotional sequences is touching. His on screen chemistry with Asin clicks once again.

Asin doesn’t have much to perform but she does have her moments. The initial roles showcase her magical charm. She has handled her role with amazing ease and brilliance. She shows her caliber when she looks at her lover in the village house with admiration and love.

Kalabhavan Mani, as villain with comical traits, rocks. The man adds life to the proceedings by his inimitable style. Vadivelu’s comedy is simply amazing. The man is definitely one of the major assets of the film.

Saranya and Lakshmi do their parts well. Raj Kapoor as the uncle of Vel and Charlie as Vasu’s friend are competent.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is soothing to the ears. The songs sequences, however, are not among the pluses of the movie. In fact, songs do weaken the pace of the movie.

The bottomline: 'Vel' rocks with racy script and powerful performances. Surefire entertainer to brighten up the festival season.

Director: Hari

Producer: M. Chinthamani

Cast: Surya Sivakumar, Asin Thottumkal, Vadivelu, Aishwarya,

Kalabhavan Mani, Nassar, Charan Raj, Lakshmi, Saranya

Raj Kapoor, Charlie

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Nasrani - Movie Review

Watching ‘Nasraani’, it was pretty easy to find that the movie could never hit the wall. Its outcome looked not so bleak considering that this Mammootty fare has more sequences for his fans to stand up and cheer than his recent three movies. Executed by ace director Joshy on the scripts of another director Renjith, whose track record of creating hits still remains not much modest. The film opened with best of the initials that was fetched by any Malayalam movie this year. But, cued in the conventional current mode, the film is a flattering tribute to ‘action less’ action movies which borrows the essential structure of the recent so called stuffs even while raising its own propaganda against the family rule in politics, that is a regular word in the current scenario.

'Nasraani' is fast paced, slickly made ride in the first half where the script is consistently snappy. It has a little of resourceful plotting and some deft dialogue touches, best seen during Mammootty's discourse running all through the movie. The film plays out as a well funded Movie, complete with over the top performances but toward the later half, like all the recent Joshy movies, this too loses its steam.

In the movie, Mammootty is David John Kottarathil, a rich unrestrained planter, known popularly by the fancy name D K. He spends most of his time boozing in the company of his friends in the Cosmo Club, in which he is the care taker and the secretary. He has got a little of tragic stories behind him as his father John accidentally kills Eappachayan, the father of his lady love and is on jail for life. This episode on their engagement day forced D K to stay back from marrying Sara Eapen, a college lecturer, even after 10 years from the incident.

David always roam around enjoying life, even in helicopters, with his driver Sukumaran (Kalabhavan Mani) and is always their to solve the problems of the club. In the film he has even a whopping introduction scene, which has him landing his helicopter in Sara's college campus and festinating her away to a lone mountain top to celebrate 10 years of living apart.

All is going not so bad for D K, till Annie (Mukta) a medical student and Sara's half sister who is taken cared by David, is accused by the police for committing the murder of Benny, an upcoming politician and the son of political king and former Revenue Minister M C Paul (Vijayraghavan) . With supportive evidences and witnesses, Police is all the way around to seize the girl who is said to have taken revenge and killed the future prospects of Malankara Congress, for having ditched one of her best friend who committed suicide following Benny's rejection!

Benny's untimely death has created upsets to the carefully laid plans of M C Paul to project his son to the top by making him an M L A in the Kadathuruthy by-election. Paul, who is other wise a family friend of David, now turns against him, as David is now in the mission to save Annie from the related problems. Aided by the villainous son Xavichan (Biju Menon) and top officials of the police, Paul is all set to make David's life a mess. The only way out for D K is now to find out and bring in the original culprits before the public and the law. And in the way, he is also to expose the family leadership pattern that is inherent in many parties including Malankara Congress and the police- politician nexus that is threatening the state.

The biggest minus of the film is the screenplay which rarely packs the punch line sequences that are the back borne to these kinds of films. The movie is essentially for the fans and general audience may not relish too much as the story point scores less. The first half of the film is alright but with innumerable sequences which moves past with every characters in the frame holding liquor glasses, works out like a video campaign for the associated labels. The second half slows down a bit. Joshy struggles hard to hold the film together, even though neither material nor execution makes his task enviable. The later half and the climax is the biggest yawn with, implausible melo- dramatic series of twists and turns that continues for long. The rather preachy final mishmash is neither realistic nor stylish.

The movie does have its moments - It works on its own terms, as a colorful adventure whose clichés and silliness will be acceptable to regular viewers because they're typical of the genre. Ranjit and Joshy repeats their stereotyped protagonist of a macho man, ever powerful even to make the CM behave as per their schedules. Mammootty as D K pass over the role with little effort which have him presenting casual comedies, soft romance and punch lines with equal consummate skills. Vimala as Sara also manages to infuse her cool dude character with some charisma when the meandering screenplay allows her to do so. The production values are really excellent. The abundant number of artists and innumerable extras who appear in every alternate scene give a big feel to the movie, evenly supported in camera by Shaji and in sets and art by Joseph Nellikkal-both Joshy regulars. The film also has two passable songs by Anil Panachooran-Biji Bal team.

Director Joshy does a polished, workmanlike job, assembling a package attractive in its visual elements rather than its content. Any way the film proves once again the crowd pulling abilities of the mega star. And ultimately it was the thing that was essentially expected from the flick. So, to watch Mammootty and nothing much more, just have a try.

NIVEDYAM - Review

Lohithadas has been in his best in the past, contributing fresh story lines to films that always captured the heart of the Malayalam viewer’s. But recently this industry's most dependable writer-director has been keeping away from business for quite a time and even his comeback in Chakkaramuthu couldn't make any impressive watch. So for Naivedhyam, he has attempted a rehash of the best tried and tested formula in Malayalam, taking bits and pieces from many hit films like Sallapam, Ee Puzhayam Kadannu, Nandhanam and Kasthooriman. Any way the result is a film which comes with his own brand of narration, giving us an endearing watch, this Onam.


Naivedhyam is a simple film, revolving around simple characters. Yet, it works, partly because the story defies the regular stereotype, due to its super-efficient performances and partly due to the well-crafted screenplay and convincing storytelling.


The film's opening hastily sketches the life of Mohana Krishnan, an outspoken Brahmin guy who is presently into carpentry work to keep his family comprising of his widowed mother and sister. He is the son of C .K, a famous dramatist, who fought for the rights of writers. Even after his father's death, Mohana Krishnan managed to study all arts and crafts till his plus two, but as his family's prospects fell on his shoulders, he left his traditions to find better jobs to maintain his family intact. Forwarded by one of his father's friend lyricist Kaithapram, who happens to meet him in a composing session, Mohana Krishnan arrives at the Kovilakom, headed by Ramavarma Thampuram, a pious aged man who was a dear student of Chembai Vaidhya Natha Bhagavathar.


Mohana Krishnan was looking for a job at Kovilakom, but the financial position of the Tharavadu was not so bright that they cannot offer any job for him. But as the health of the elderly priest in the Tharavadu temple owned by the Kovilakam was declining, Ramavarma Thampuran deputes him to assist him at the temple. Although he doesn't know much about mantras and rituals, the old priest gives him necessary training and entrusts him with the rituals of the temple while keeping a supervisory role for himself.


As the Keezh Santhi (Assistant Priest) comes, the prospects of the temple brighten as he works day and night to keep the rituals of the temple, and to invite the people from the surroundings to the temple. The young priest very soon become the object of fancy of every one and grabs the attention of many young women, including the heroine Sathya Bhama, who is an orphan, the illegal daughter of a lady who committed suicide for her misdeeds. She and her grand mother live in a separate house away from their relatives, selling the Pappads that they make for a living.

Sathya Bhama also has her share of agonies as she is in constant threat from one of his cousins Surendran, a reckless goonda who is hell bound on marrying her. And when ever he comes to her house, she finds solace in the temple outskirts. As Mohana Krishan also stays in the temple, they starts meeting there on nights at a regular basis and eventually circumstances force them to fall in love. And as usual with every love stories, not everything is going in their favor, as they are caught red handed, from inside the temple.... Though the starting of the film is just about okay, it gains momentum after initial few reels. And with the sequences of monologues of Mohana Krishnan with the Deity Krishnan, the film climbs a steady lane, comfortably placed and paced. There’s also an absence of comedians or sub tracks to test our patience, making for a different experience.

The debutant Vinoo Anand as Mohana Krishan towers over everyone else with a mind-blowing performance. He has guarded his family traditions with a wonderful and a fitting debut. It's rare for an actor to get such a difficult role in his very first film. It is even more difficult for the newcomer to carry it on, but Vinoo never falters with a feel free body language and is definitely the backbone of the film, right till the end of the movie, which keep the viewer engrossed definitely an actor, to watch.


Bhama as Sathya Bhama is not just a photogenic face, but also proved as a first-rate actor, showing the jhalaks of another Manju Warrier in the making. She has got charismatic eyes, and does full justice to her character and with a little more refurbishment on emoting skills, she can easily climb the ladders of audience approval. Her chemistry with Vinoo Anand is also amazing - they are a fresh pair, good looking, and simple - and so is their love.


Nedumudi Venu and Bharath Gopi make exceptional towering performances in other prominent characters. Aparna, Athulya, Kochu Preman, Sreehari and a bunch of freshers are also adequate in their respective roles.


M. Jayachandran’s music is another highpoint of the film, with the songs that have a different sound and the placement of each track in the narrative make you cherish them all the more. Oda Kuzhal Vili Ketto is the pick among the five songs in the movie.


Cinematography by debutant Sajan Kalathil is consistent and show promise. The locales of Palakkad and the sets especially that of the big temple by art director Prashanth Madhav give the film that extra zing. Adding to the film's plus points are its feel good tempo and duration.


An enjoyable film, all in all even though the film could have been better if it had some fresh progressive content. Nevertheless, in these days of blunt remakes, the audience should be happy with something that takes only bits and pieces.

Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri - Review

After much waiting and many shifting of release dates, K Madhu's Nadhiya Kollapetta Rathri has finally hit the screens. The film as expected has some thing fresh to offer providing edge of the seat entertainment, keeping us guessing, all through.


Nadhiya Kollapetta Rathri begins from where the Railway Division of Salem forms a Railway Anti-Criminal Task Force (RACT), which is headed by Dr. Sharafuddin Tharamasi IPS, an encounter specialist, whose is a hardened officer who has already taken 16 lives in his encounters. He with his trusted men in RACT provides additional support to hinder railway crimes. And as a part of their work, they start to investigate seven cases associated with railway that are still left without clues, of which top priority is given to the Souparnika Express case, who left a black mark on railway security.


Souparnika Express, between Chennai and Mangalore on its inaugural run, years back witnessed three murders, of which two were branded as suicides. Sharpshooter Nadiya Mather, who had boarded the train after missing her flight, was found brutally wounded, which left her in a vegetative state for a year. The assailant used a scalpel to stab her in the head, leaving her brain dead with no signs of recovery.


Two other ladies - danseuse Thulasimani was found hanging inside the coupe in which she was alone and was locked from inside. NDTV reporter Sreya Maria was later found lying dead on the tracks. All three were traveling in the same AC First Class Compartment, having seven coupes.


Sharafuddin Tharamasi and his team, calls back all those who were associated with the case, including all the travelers in the compartment, the TT Thatthankottu Muthu , AC attender and the railway officer Kathireshan who first investigated the case. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle about versions and reasons for various murders are meticulously scattered across an engrossing first half. The later half explains how the forces solve the cases and what happens in the deceptions that various characters take into themselves. K Madhu and A K Sajan play by the rules but doesn't disappoint. The thriller slows down its pace in the latter half, but with more action and suspense ensue. The makers won’t let the cat out of this bag, till the dead end that keeps us glued in the seats.


The novelty of the film is definitely that there are three murders committed on a single night on a train, of which the victims are in no way related. The script is tight, with most ends tied up. Though the fake blood, some overdone dramatic sequences in the first half, and the super star mostly as a one man dialogue presenter looks foul, the overall production is slick. Shots of trains, top angle shots of moving express trains sprinkled all over creates the atmosphere of urgency. Snappy editing and quick-paced action help take the tension to a feverish pitch. Interspersed with the frantic chases are moments of relief provided by Suraj as the TT and Anoop as the A C attender.


Suresh Gopi as Sharafuddin Tharamasi does not seem fresh, because he has been doing such roles far too often, but the character is safe in his hands. Whatever its antecedents, this is just another cleverly packaged one-man show for him. The entire story is designed to suit his energetic style of acting as he infuses the drama with tremendous anxiety, particularly in the first half, with his edgy body language


Kavya Madhavan has got another two meaty characters in the film, to show her potential after a long time. Others in the cast including Siddhique, Shammi Thilakan, Urmila Unni, Subair, Sureshkrissna,Vijakumar and Madhupal too have done their respective roles well.


As for the technical aspects, art-direction by Gireesh Menon and cinematography by Anandakuttan deserve special mention, as both have worked to the extremes to give the real feel to the shots shot on train.. Editing too is slick to suit a fast paced thriller. .


Despite its a little lagging in the second half, Nadhiya Kollapetta Rathri makes an impact because of tightly written screenplay, the performances and the effective use of the moving train as a backdrop for some genuinely gripping sequences of investigation.


Altogether, definitely worth for a meticulous watch.

Review Harry Potter and Order of the Pheonix

Movie
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Director
David Yates
Cast
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman



In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," both the mood and color scheme are grim, gray and black. There is pink, as a matter of fact, but this belongs to the first female villain of the literary and film series.

The much-awaited film has a new director in British TV vet David Yates, and he and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg do a respectable job in keeping novelist J.K. Rowling's story on course. The problem, though, lies in that story and its course.

This is the fifth -- and longest at 800 pages -- book on which a "Harry Potter" film has been based. Consequently, this is a movie that feels like a reunion in a train station, in which even more characters get introduced and old friends revisited, making for a bewildering array of personages to keep track of even for those paying close attention. Then there is the fact this book -- and movie -- is a watershed of backstory, revelations and plot clarifications before heading into the two remaining chapters. So while "Phoenix" is a necessary film, it's quite possibly the least enjoyable of the lot so far.

Which will not keep the multitudes from the multiplexes. Harry Potter is now a certifiable brand. Even the release of Rowling's climactic seventh book in three weeks' time and its promise to resolve all the loose ends will deter no one from checking out this behind-the-curve movie version.

Funnily enough, "Phoenix" ends up with everyone realizing what we, the audience, realized at the close of the last film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" -- that the film's great but to this point almost ephemeral villain, Lord Voldemort, has returned. Only it takes another 138 minutes for everyone, save Harry, to truly comprehend this fact. Consequently, looking back, when the series is finally completed, "Phoenix" may go down as the problematic film, full of plot but little fun.

It begins in a glum mood with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, looking definitely older and more mature) moping about during summer holiday in the blighted land of the Muggles. His use of a bit of magic to save, of all people, his truly despised cousin Dudley results in an almost instant letter of expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for use of magic outside of school.

Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) rushes to his successful defense in court, but upon his return to school, he finds that most students, other than pals Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), steer clear of him. Even Dumbledore shies away.

Harry suffers from nightmares, but even worse is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, the poisonous-in-pink Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). She is the amalgamation of all our worst high school teachers, a chronically strict and arrogant instructor who hands down decrees without the slightest concern for their impact.

It seems there is a political war afoot in which the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), is in severe denial about the return of Voldemort. He prefers to view it as a rebellion by the school, its headmaster and that odious boy Harry. So the movie boils down to a series of moves and countermoves between a blind administration and a repressed student body.

There are any number of eye-catching moments here, some featuring otherworldy creatures, magic duels to the death, a clandestine though illicit wizardry school operated by Harry and rides through nighttime London skies. But the magic -- movie magic, that is -- is mostly missing in this outing.

The series also continues its shocking waste of talent. This includes why-bother appearances by the cream of British acting: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Richard Griffiths, Julie Water, Robbie Coltrane (who, to be fair, was well used in previous films) and Ralph Fiennes (who, also to be fair, will as Voldemort make his major contribution in future films).

Certainly all design, visual effects, cinematography, costumes and editing are up the series' state-of-the-art standards.