(Note: There will be some spoilers from the movie ahead. Nothing crazy, but I just thought you should know. Don't blame me if you read this and find out something you didn't want to know.)
Lauren and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Friday night. Before I get to my review of the movie, let me discuss one of my pet peeves. The movie time was 9:00, and we got there around 8:20, because we figured it would be a madhouse. We were right; by the time we got there, the line to get into the individual theater was already quite long. So we got on the line and we sat there for about 20 moinutes before we were allowed to go in. Upon entering the theater, we treid to find a seat, a process which was greatly hindered by the multitudes of dickheads who decided to save seats for their dickhead friends.
When people wait in line for such an event, the seating format is first-come first-served, not "I'll save a seat for my 10 bestest friends because they're too cool to wait in a line." We got there early enough so that we could still find decent seats, but had we showed up 10 minutes before the start of the movie and our two choices were either in the front row or taking someone else's saved seats, I'll give you one guess as to which one I would have chosen.
The movie itself was quite entertaining. This was the first time I had read the book before I had seen the movie, so it gave me a different perspective from the other movies. (I actually started reading the series after watching The Prisoner of Azkaban and wanting to know what happened to poor Harry in the future.) As a consequence of having read the book first, I now noticed a lot of things that they had to drop for the sake of making the movie into a reasonable length. Many characters were dropped from the movie, including Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley, and Winky and Dobby. Others were turned into mere cameos, namely Sirius Black and Rita Skeeter. I understand that adapting this book into a movie was a monumental challenge, and on the whole I think they did a commendable job of editing at the right spots and judging what parts could be dropped with the east harm to the integrity of the book. Still, it felt so rushed that I coulldn't really lose myself in Rowling's universe as I did with the books and the first three movies.
Still, making this movie was an ambitious task, and if some of the omissions can be corrected on the DVD, it will make the experience much more enjoyable for fans of the book. On other areas, the last 40 minutes of the movie were done very well, and Ralph Fiennes makes an excellent Voldemort. I thought they did a particularly good job of getting Mad-Eye's character down very well, even if the way they did his eye was stupid. Michael Gambon can't quite channel Rowling's Dumbledore; I find he sticks out and does not match Dumbledore's presence the way Richard Harris did.
The main actors are all solid; for kids, they are becoming polished pros and have grown into the roles very well. The movie is once again charming and witty and at times very funny. It is a credit to the actors and the director that the movie can turn from carefree and playful to somber to terrifying in a matter of seconds.
Final verdict: It is probably my least favorite movie of the franchise thus far. Having said that, it is probably more a function of the nature of the film and the fact that I had read the book. While they had to rush through the entire movie, they made it as fun and entertaining as possible. If you enjoy the Harry Potter series, you'll enjoy The Goblet of Fire.
Lauren and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Friday night. Before I get to my review of the movie, let me discuss one of my pet peeves. The movie time was 9:00, and we got there around 8:20, because we figured it would be a madhouse. We were right; by the time we got there, the line to get into the individual theater was already quite long. So we got on the line and we sat there for about 20 moinutes before we were allowed to go in. Upon entering the theater, we treid to find a seat, a process which was greatly hindered by the multitudes of dickheads who decided to save seats for their dickhead friends.
When people wait in line for such an event, the seating format is first-come first-served, not "I'll save a seat for my 10 bestest friends because they're too cool to wait in a line." We got there early enough so that we could still find decent seats, but had we showed up 10 minutes before the start of the movie and our two choices were either in the front row or taking someone else's saved seats, I'll give you one guess as to which one I would have chosen.
The movie itself was quite entertaining. This was the first time I had read the book before I had seen the movie, so it gave me a different perspective from the other movies. (I actually started reading the series after watching The Prisoner of Azkaban and wanting to know what happened to poor Harry in the future.) As a consequence of having read the book first, I now noticed a lot of things that they had to drop for the sake of making the movie into a reasonable length. Many characters were dropped from the movie, including Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley, and Winky and Dobby. Others were turned into mere cameos, namely Sirius Black and Rita Skeeter. I understand that adapting this book into a movie was a monumental challenge, and on the whole I think they did a commendable job of editing at the right spots and judging what parts could be dropped with the east harm to the integrity of the book. Still, it felt so rushed that I coulldn't really lose myself in Rowling's universe as I did with the books and the first three movies.
Still, making this movie was an ambitious task, and if some of the omissions can be corrected on the DVD, it will make the experience much more enjoyable for fans of the book. On other areas, the last 40 minutes of the movie were done very well, and Ralph Fiennes makes an excellent Voldemort. I thought they did a particularly good job of getting Mad-Eye's character down very well, even if the way they did his eye was stupid. Michael Gambon can't quite channel Rowling's Dumbledore; I find he sticks out and does not match Dumbledore's presence the way Richard Harris did.
The main actors are all solid; for kids, they are becoming polished pros and have grown into the roles very well. The movie is once again charming and witty and at times very funny. It is a credit to the actors and the director that the movie can turn from carefree and playful to somber to terrifying in a matter of seconds.
Final verdict: It is probably my least favorite movie of the franchise thus far. Having said that, it is probably more a function of the nature of the film and the fact that I had read the book. While they had to rush through the entire movie, they made it as fun and entertaining as possible. If you enjoy the Harry Potter series, you'll enjoy The Goblet of Fire.
posted by Rico at 3:23 PM
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