[Cerek]

I took the boys to see it this afternoon. I agree about the action scenes...they were hard to follow at times. I'm sure there was a lot of references in other scenes that went past me since I don't know the back story.

I also agree the acting by Radcliffe and Grint was almost non-existent - especially Grint. If that were my g/f screaming in pain, I would be trying to rip the iron door out of the stone to reach her. And Harry does come off even worse in that scene. EVERY time the s*** hits the fan, he turns to Hermoine, relying on her to have a way out or begging her to help with the situation. Then, when she is being tortured and screaming, he doesn't show any concern at all and, as Larry said, seems far more interested in discovering Luna there. Hermoine said she was "always mad" at Ron. Seems to me, she should be more than a little pissed at Harry too.

And speaking of Hermoine and Harry, exactly WHY is Hermoine the "best with spells", always the one with a plan AND the person the Chosen One turns to any time things go past being "slightly screwed up"?

Hermoine is the one with the disguises when they leave the Barrows (and also the one that ports them away). She is the one with the plan (and potion) for breaking into the Ministry of Magic. After the attack in the cafe', Harry is the one that depends on Hermoine to do the mindwipe because "she is the best with spells". WHAT? "the best with spells"? Then exactly what IS the "Chosen One" good for?

Finally, how come Harry pleads with Hermoine for help when Dobbie is dying in his arms? Can the Chosen One not even cast a healing spell?

I realize a lot of this is probably self-explanatory to those that have actually followed the series, but as an outside observer, I keep asking myself just what purpose the Chosen One is suppose to serve? Is it JUST being the one that can kill Voldemort? In most movies with a "chosen champion", it is very common for the "chosen" to not realize how much power they truly wield, but in Harry's case, he has now had YEARS to discover and develop his power and he still seems - quite frankly - pretty useless most of the time. I never saw any flashes of uber power during moments of extreme duress and barely saw flashes of medium power when it was called for.

Guess I do need to read the books or at least rent the other movies to find out why Harry isn't a lot more powerful by now.