Yeah, much of what Cherny says is right. First off, this is a horrible book ... and perhaps I'm just amazed they fished as good a movie out of this as they did.
Yes, the main trio was at its absolute worst. There was really nothing to it this time out. That's the story, sorry. The filmmakers didn't write it. Despite that, with so very little to do, Rupert Grint comes off the best he has in the entire series. And I think there's enough Harry and Hermoine to match up with any of the entries.
But yes, there were simply too many characters for any of them to shine too brightly or have enough business. Certainly Ron Weasely suffered in this regard, while room was given for Umbridge and Lovegood to be featured more prominently. This was, in fact, the shortest of all the films to date (heheh, clocking in at 2 hours 18 minutes!)
I don't think the movie was individual scenes any more than the rest of them (save film 3). That's all the books ever were. This one, alas, goes back to the same format as the first two ... blah, blah, school, blah - and a big wizarding "contest" for Harry at the end. Rowling's a crappy writer, but I've always excused it for being "juevenile fiction."
Perhaps the magic Cherny was missing was the lack of happy ... but I think the world of wizarding was well portrayed in the story and in the visuals. It wasn't chummy or sweet, but that's this story. Yeah, not my favorite book .... but miles better than the one which followed it (and I'm almost terrified to read the last one, considering the trend of suckitude).
Anyway, I'm anxious to see it again, perhaps with clearer eyes. I'm probably going to see it in Imax 3-D this weekend. Harry's masturbation scenes should be a revelation in that format.
