I know this is about the books, but there was one point in my re-read where I thought the dialogue was terrible. It was something nobody would ever say out loud, especially not a 12 year old. That made me think about the movies and how Columbus had material that wasn't as good as the later directors had. I still partly blame him, but there were a lot of factors. He also had to work with some kids that were definitely not natural talents. Some kids just "have it" no matter what age they are. Dan/Harry did not and he became better as he got older.

I don't like how they changed the ending in the chamber though, so that had nothing to do with writing. I think it was way better (in the book) that Riddle was still "alive" when Harry's arm was being healed. The movie ending was far too cheesy from that point on until the feast. Another thing I blame entirely on the director/producers is the Disney-esque color scheme and music of the first two movies. It was always a neon blue sky and always neon green grass, and the music was always too cheesy.