GoF: Brilliant and Disappointing

[rayvyn2k]

I saw "Goblet of Fire" last night with Hubby and a friend. I have to say it was visually stunning. The long, sweeping shots of Hogwarts Castle, the grounds and the Tri-Wizard Tournament sites are gorgeous. The special effects were seamless, the dragon was especially good with the Durmstrang ship a close second. The kids have all improved as actors, but Rupert Grint especially stands out. I have a feeling, should he choose to continue acting, we will be seeing many more wonderfully nuanced performances from him. Emma Watson has also improved...playing Hermione with just the right blend of "know-it-all" and angsty girl-woman. I'm sorry to say that I felt Dan Radcliffe has the most room for improvement. While watching him, there were several times when I didn't feel that he was really in character. But he has come a long way.

The brilliant bits, in no particular order:
Lots of scenes with the twins. They were spot on, and really funny.
Filch's penchant for "premature" cannon firing.
Lots of shots of "moving" paintings
Neville's expanded role. Loved him practicing and being all moony-eyed after the ball. Since they took out the House Elves (see "disappointments"), I'm glad Neville got to come to Harry's rescue before the second task.
Snape's private storage room
Brendon Gleason
The Yule Ball--even though it was a bit too short and edited weirdly
The "Unforgiveables" scene. It went from hilarity to chilling in seconds. Well done.
Lucius Malfoy--Jason Issacs was fabulous.
Ralph Fiennes was perfect as Voldemort. Except for the eyes, which should have been red.
The Graveyard Scene, which was also disappointing in some ways.

The disappointments for me were, again in no particular order:
No "Old Archie"
No Snape revealing his own Dark Mark
No "gleam of triumph"
Not enough Snape period
Voldemort has blue eyes?
Mrs. Norris has red eyes?
No Winky or Dobby
Placing Barty Crouch, Jr. in the Riddle house right at the beginning.
Not to mention at the Quidditch World Cup
No actual Quidditch at the QWC
The Weasly party was not seated in the Ministry box, so no Malfoys behind them, and no Narcissa (that I could see)
Although the Dragon chase scene was fabulous, I thought it was not necessary and overly long.
Alternatively, the Second task seemed too short. Harry got there first, but it didn't seem like he had to wait long before Diggory and Krum showed up...and I really never felt like the time was running out on him. Perhaps this is an editing quibble. Also, no Merfolk Chieftainess telling Dumbledore what happened.
Shirley Henderson is too old to play "Moaning Myrtle" so that scene in the Prefect's bathroom was kind of skeevy, and I thought the mermaid in the picture was supposed to be asleep?
No other ghosts at all.
The Rita Skeeter plotline was dropped halfway through, she was never revealed as an unregistered Animagus, and her entire storyline from the book was abandoned. No "exclusive" on Hagrid being a half-giant, Hermione's relationship with Krum, etc.
Draco basically being used as comic relief. Because the Rita Skeeter plotline was dropped, Draco's part was significantly shortened.
Consequently, no Hermione victory over her and no beetle in the jar.
Flitwick
Almost no Sirius
No Barty Crouch, Jr. trial pensieve scene
No Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, no Harry giving the twins his Tri-Wizard Winnings
No scene with Fudge having the Dementors give Barty the Kiss, then going into denial about Voldemort's return--this was particularly disappointing to me because it really sets up the whole next book. Snape's Dark Mark scene is here, too. I wonder if it was cut to make the movie shorter? I hope so, I really hope it was filmed, because I want to see it on the DVD.
The Graveyard scene was brilliant, but disappointing as well.
Wormtail didn't seem to mind cutting off his arm and really didn't seem to be in any pain afterwards.
The Priori Incantatem seemed rushed.
The entire Graveyard scene was too short.


Overall, I really liked the movie. Perhaps I'm being a bit critical because GoF is my very favorite book of the entire series. I felt--like PoA--the director could have left out or shortened a few of the "non-canon" scenes to allow more time for the "canon" scenes. However, I am planning to see it again--on an IMAX screen next time.
And I think I'm going to go re-read the book.

Comments

[islandsmoke.livejournal.com]

*dances*

*still squeeeeing over movie*

Yeah, I missed some of the deleted stuff, but the rest was so stunning, I can forgive it. It's not like I don't know the story. The study hall scene was fantastic! Lot's of Snape-scape as well, even if he didn't talk much. (And didn't he look good!)

I thought DR had improved quite a bit, and was glad to see it in RG as well.

It's fabulous at IMAX - if it wasn't so far away, I go there again. As it is, I'll be off to the regular theater soon.

(What the heck has happened to Arthur's hair?? Is he going to Flitwick's hairdresser?)

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

I agree, it is a stunningly beautiful movie. I loved the study hall scene, too. Especially Snape pulling up his sleeves...hee. Alan looks really trim and gorgeous.

And Arthur's hair is just...eek.

Poor Warwick Davis...I liked how they did Flitwick in the first movie much better...

And...what about the Phelps twins? Yowza.

[islandsmoke.livejournal.com]

Ack! Sorry about the double, I deleted one.

...what about the Phelps twins?

Oh, yeah. For that matter, RG and DR are coming along nicely, too. That scene in the tub? Thought I would die laughing. I thought DR did that very well. There were one or two other spots (which, of course, I can't remember) where I thought he was doing really well with nuances of expression and voice.

*sigh*

The little dears are growing up. Someday, they may be old enough to feature in one of our stories...

*rubs hands with glee*

(This may double again - there seems to be trouble in River City...)

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

*ahem*
You do know that one of the "little dears" features in one of my stories, right?

And Dan did well in the bathtub scene, but he really didn't in the "crying over Cedric's body" one. But he is coming along, I do agree.

[islandsmoke.livejournal.com]

You do know that one of the "little dears" features in one of my stories, right?

*watching the birds in the lilac bush*

Eh?

I was too upset over the Cedric scene to notice much. Cedric's father did almost too good a job. Sounded waaaay to much like the real thing, which it has been my misfortune to witness. (Not that I wasn't a world more fortunate than the mother.) All in all, I though the scene was well done in that they didn't try to sugar coat it.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

You're right. It was heart-wrenching. I howled like that when my brother died, so the father's reaction seemed very real.

[mysduende.livejournal.com]

The Rita Skeeter plotline was dropped halfway through, she was never revealed as an unregistered Animagus, and her entire storyline from the book was abandoned.

Are you kiddin' me, girl? They just don't have time for small details like that in a 2 1/2 hr flick condensed from a 700+ page book! :)

I agree with you on Voldemort's eyes - red eyes, hell! anything other than Ralph Fiennes natural eyes would've looked better.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

A mention here, a mention there of her stories would have done it for me. Because how is Hermione going to force Rita to write the story about Harry that appears in "The Quibbler"?

[mysduende.livejournal.com]

Well, but it's not essentially to the plot that we know Hermione forced Rita. If they show the Quibbler in OotP, I can see the next screenwriter giving Hermione a brief line or two to all Ron and Harry on the train about how she forced her and that'll be all there is to it.

But I'm sure anything Rita related in the next one will be super brief because - well, just think of all the new characters introduced in OotP - Luna, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Umbridge, etc. And as we've already seen with GoF and it's slew of new characters that old characters get pushed to the wayside (Snape) to put the limelight on the new ones.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

Well, I really don't see how they can push Snape aside in OotP. If they don't have the Occlumency lessons and Snape's Worst Memory in that movie, I don't know if I'll be able to stand it.
I imagine they will concentrate on Harry's battle of wills with Umbridge, the DA and hopefully, his visions and finally the battle at the Ministry.
I really hope they have the scene at the end with Dumbledore explaining about the Prophecy, too.
Reading over my wish list for OotP, I wonder if it will happen. Gah, I have to hope.

[mysduende.livejournal.com]

Tptb would be stupid to skip the Occlumency lesson scenes though I wonder if they will show us Snape's Worst Memory only because they've not bothered to go into any detail on the Maurauders and Snape's rivalry with them before (aka The Shrieking Shack in PoA.) Criminal, yes but they've been known to skip things that us fans feel are so crucial to the storyline because it's not directly relevant to The Boy Who Lived. If JKR is smart, she will tell David Yates he needs to start introducing more of Snape's background since HBP is the turning point, when Snape begins to become more front and center to the crux of the matter.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

You're right about the movies leaving out the essential bits of the backround. I was so angry about the Shrieking Shack scene--I couldn't believe JKR allowed it to be butchered like that in favor of...the Whomping Willow? WTF? It's not like PoA was over-long, either.
I doubt if I'll ever be fully satisfied. I'm just a book person at heart.