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]

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.