The movies peaked with Azkaban

I would have loved to see Cuaron's version of Goblet of Fire, especially the rise of Voldemort.

Make a move, Reindeer Games..

Agreed...Azkaban was an incredible film masterpiece of the Potter series, really. Nothing about that film was out of place or boring. Many fans complain that Ron's lines in the book were given to Hermione and that's why they dislike Azkaban, but in my opinion, the changes were sound.

Quite a bit of people also say that Deathly Hallows Part II is their favorite movie, but for me, there was so many missed opportunities. Mainly, I wanted to see Molly vs. Bellatrix (how it actually was in the book - not just tossing curses at each other). And to see Bellatrix vs. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, while nearby, you have Voldemort vs. McGonagall, Slughorn, and Shacklebolt...that would've been monumental. Missed opportunities, I guess.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is my second favourite, mainly for its sense of urgency and gravitas, but the climax and aftermath never really won me over.

I disagree. I thought Askaban was terrible. It completely destroyed my interest in the film series. It's the start of the bad Dumbledore. I thought Lupin was also miscast and the design of the werewolf was horrible (it might be a good design for a Wendigo, though). The final freeze frame was just stupid.

I think the only thing I liked about it were the Dementors, though I did not like how the Dementor's Kiss was handled.

It’s a messy mixed bag to me. There are times where Cuaron over directs, often having his camera zooming, tracking, panning etc unmotivated by the drama of the scene. I’ve also never found his shot compositions particularly memorable on the whole – good shots here and there, but largely an ‘eh’ from me, photographically. The Shrieking Shack scene, like the whole climax, feels drawn out, and the acting there is really...off: I don’t understand the direction he took, everyone is so hammy and over-the-top, behaving in strangely threatening ways when they’re trying to convince Harry of Sirius’ innocence. Giving Hermione the line “No! I trusted you!” is just odd too: Harry’s the only one there who ought to feel any sense of betrayal. I also hate the Whomping Willow scene, where Hermione is swinging around and throwing Harry into the tunnel.

There are a few missteps, but practically every movie has some bad points. The faults of Azkaban are minor to me.

I'm of the opposite mind. I always felt like a lot of the flaws in POA (and I'm in agreement with most of what Alpenglow said) are big enough flaws that they affect my enjoyment of the film. On the other hand, I feel a lot of the complaints against Yates tend to be really bad nitpicking.

I still think POA is okay/decent, don't think it's bad by any means, but I think the Yates movies are better (I even enjoyed GOF more but haven't seen that film in years).

There is a lot of nitpicking against Yates. Overall he did more right than wrong on the series, but OOTP was not a good start.

How I'd quickly sum up all the 8 films:

PS- barely decent children's movie, but doesn't hold up well at all except from the nostalgia factor.

COS- barely decent family movie with a far more focused and somewhat darker storyline this time around, but also overlong and filled with distracting contrivances to move the plot along.

POA- excellent escapism with more mature themes than previous films and some actual character development; for once Harry actually shows some life and personality and grows as a person throughout the story. Flaws such as instances of silly slapstick humour are forgotten by the end.

GoF- decent action adventure for young adults, but overly dramatic and lacking in flow, especially compared to POA. The acting is a lot worse too. The third act is very entertaining though.

OOTP- mediocre to barely decent film. Goldenberg clearly understood the themes of the book of loneliness and isolation, but there was no need to spell it out; the scene in which Voldemort invades Harry's mind at the Ministry is fairly representative for the film: It presents awkwardly obvious symbolism with broken mirrors and the like and ends with some cliched lines about love and the value of friendships. OOTP is indeed filled with trite film conventions. The source material is no better, mind you.

HBP- decent to pretty good film. Uneven in the sense I don't think the rom com works too well, whereas the climax and the darker aspects of the film are excellent. Glad to see Kloves returning after Goldenberg's cliched adaptation of OOTP.

DH 1- decent to pretty good. The first hour works very well. It slows down a bit too much in the second half, which would be okay if the trio were able to carry the film alone. Sadly Dan and Emma are not good enough actors to do so and the film suffers a bit as a result. Still, the dance and animation sequence were poetic moments. Not really the most memorable film and it does feel like only half a movie due to the split.

DH2- a good film with urgency and a suitable melancholic tone. The split clearly benefited the last part of this story. It is rare to see a HP movie with actual good pacing. Heck, the pacing is possibly better than POA. The last 20 minutes or so are slightly underwhelming compared to the middle section. It is a shame that the climax to POA actually feels more satisfying to me than defeating the darkest wizard of all time. It could have been fantastic with a better climax, but it's still a good film and the second best in the series.