11/19/2005

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Movie


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


The movie was good IF you didn't read the book. But if you did read the book, the movie felt rushed and incomplete. I feel that it did not fully capture the true essence of the book and might cause some continuity problems for the movie adaptations of the next books. Some very important characters and plot devices were missing.

But the movie wasn't all bad though. It was nicely done. But I do hate the unnecessary emphasis on the love angles. If they put that much effort into those parts, then why not on the more important ones??? But I digress once again.

ANYWAY, the special effects were seamless (IMO). The cinematography was great. The acting was good. And my favorite part aside from the Triwizard and World Cup scenes was the entrance of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. And I was impressed with the chilling way the World Cup camp was destroyed by the Death Eaters. And the Death Mark was nicely done.

Now, another thing I hate is the casting. According to the book, Cho Chang and the Patil twins are among the more beautiful students of Hogwarts. The movie did not reflect that. Or maybe, as I've already pointed out to my friends, the Hogwarts boys just don't have very good taste in girls. HAH!

I also felt like the conflict between Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron (Rupert Grint) was not played out well enough. But the two actors were great. Emma Watson (as Hermione) was also good. However, both Hermione and Ron were underutilized. Even the role of Sirius Black was not emphasized well enough. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort was scary. He fits the role to a T.

And since the movie skipped on a lot of things, those who did not read the book might not be able to comprehend some parts. And some kids might not enjoy it. It's kinda dark and you know, somebody died.

So is the movie worth watching? Definitely. Fans of the book just have to grin and bear it and enjoy it as it is. I realized early on that if I kept on comparing it with the book, I would not be able to enjoy it. So I only compared the two after I watched the movie. HAH!

Rating: for those who didn't read the book -> 9
for those who read the book -> 7

PS There's a really cool movie poster in French (I think) that I found through Google, and I absolutely LOVE it!

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2 comments:

cube said...

I haven't seen it yet, but plan to with my kids. When you say they put unnecessary emphasis on the love angles, is it age appropriate for kids? They hate mushy stuff.

Ria Jose said...

Nope, it's not too mushy to become a turn-off but the effort could have been directed elsewhere.