Running Time: 160 minutes The Harry Potter movies are long. The shortest is The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which despite only adapting a small sliver of the final book still comes in at 130 minutes. That in and of itself isn't too much of a problem; there's a strong plot running through the seven books/eight films, with lots of little clues dropped throughout the earlier installments that pay off in the later chapters, and all that is alongside the more conventional coming-of-age drama. But watching the series through, seeing the tone and visual style completely change, it's obvious that this wasn't at the forefront of the producers minds, evidenced by the way the books were adapted. The Chamber Of Secrets, widely regarded as the weakest in the series, is the longest, despite coming from the second-shortest book. A faithful adaptation is all well and good, but when it leads to a film longer than another based on a book three times its length (The Order Of The Phoenix) you get the feeling a better editor was needed. What could be cut? From a whole series standpoint, a lot. What's most important in The Chamber Of Secrets to the overarching plot is Tom Riddle's Diary and Lucius Malfoy. Beyond that everything else is take it or leave it; if they'd known how much of a short shrift he'd would get later on do you think Dobby would have been so focal?
