I'm resigned that no film adaptation will ever live up to my imagination when actually reading the books. The first two were definitely treated too lightly, especially concerning the Harry/Snape relationship, which is far more volatile in the books and could have easily appeared on screen without adding much time. The third film definitely captured the tone of the book much better and of course, the necessary and expected cuts were made, but I thought it stuck to the basic plot pretty well. You have to remember that the film treatments will essentially be the Cliff Notes versions of the books, so as long as no major plot elements are missing and nothing in completely reinvented, then they do a pretty good job.
As for the next film, I'm very excited to see it, but again, I know it would never live up to my own imagination. It is my favorite of the books thus far and, while I wish it could be two films, we have to remember that this is really for kids and families and stretching one story across two 3-hour films would most likely be disastrous. I'll just look forward to seeing my favorite moments from the book and if I need something more complete, I'll just read the book again. I've read it three times already.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
