Goblet of Fire, movie in review

[mijan]

Hello loves!  Yes, I went to the movie last night, and generally, we had a pretty spiffy time.  Oh, except for the fact that the video and sound screwed up right at the scene when the names come out of the Goblet, and it was fucked up for several agonizing minutes and they wouldn't/couldn't rewind.  The line party itself was awesome.  I have a new broom and wand (and an awesome new scarf... YAY!), and I'll take pictures of all that stuff soon and post it.  We had a fun time hanging out.  As usual, I was with my Boston area line party group.  Met some new fandom people, and got to hang out with gatewaygirl again and a bunch of people whose LJ names I can't remember right now, and had an awesome time.  At 4:00, we started gathering at a nearby restaurant.  At 5:30 or so, we all lined up in the theatre.  We acted silly.  T'was good.  At 8:30, we all watched a showing of Prizoner of Azkaban.  At midnight, Goblet of Fire started.  We laughed, we cried, we acted like crazy fandom people, and it was great.

Anyhow, the movie itself... some of it was awesome, but some of it pissed me off.  I knew it was gonna happen.  If you haven't seen it, you might want to avoid the LJ cut.

There were some things that were awesome about the movie.  A few of those things:
~ Barty Crouch, Barty Jr., Rita Skeeter, Karakoff, and  LOOKED like the characters I imagined, and most of the acting was dead-on.
~ Snape, although not always strictly canonical (the batting of Harry's and Ron's heads in the Great Hall during "study time"), was awesome.  And I liked the part where he whapped them on the heads anyway, so it's all good anyway!
~ Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom.  That was brilliant.  'Nuff said.
~ Cedric... "The Prefect's Bathroom is a GREAT place to take a bath..."  Oh so suggestive!  I loved it!  *bounces*
~ THE FERRET SCENE!  BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE!!!
~ Fred and George.  They were awesome.
~ Neville.  I loff Neville.  Muchly.
~ The scene IN the pensieve itself was well-done, but we never saw *why* Harry was going to Dumbledore's office, and why would it have been so hard for him to have discovered the pensieve the way he did in the book (by just seeing a glow through the slightly-open cabinet door?
~ The graveyard scene.  Yes, some things were off, but overall, I think it was a damned good job.  I'll give my little critiques later.
~ Harry's Dan's acting after the Portkey returned him from the graveyard.  I BELIEVED it.  I cried.  I really did.  I'm getting teary-eyed and tight-chested thinking about the scene... Harry clinging to Cedric's body.  Damn, they actually followed canon for that.  And Harry Dan LOOKED like he was distraught and in a state of emotional and physical shock.  That saved the movie.

Little critiques, but not things that were so bad:
~ I thought Dan looked a little stiff while his wand was locked with "Voldemort's".  He was standing upright, as if he wasn't struggling to hold steady.  He might have had the facial expressions pretty well, but he needed to struggle with the wand a bit, bend his knees, almost like he's playing a warped game of tug-of-war, only not quite pushing OR pulling.  Does that make sense?  That's something the director should have caught, especially for such a vital scene.
~ The Yule Ball:  Having *everyone* dancing except Ron, Harry, and the Patil twins looked wrong somehow.  There should have been other people walking to and from the dance floor.  The balance was wrong somehow.  Again, a director's decision.
~ The dragon scene was exciting, but it went a bit beyond.
~ Where was Dobby with the Gillyweed?  Sure Dobby can be annoying, but I wanted to see him.
~ The bit with the Polyjuice being repeatedly mentioned, and seeing Mad-Eye Moody repeatedly drinking from his flask... it made it TOO obvious.  Hideously obvious.  But we knew already, so it didn't bother me *too* much.
~ The dance lesson scene.  Was that *really* necessary?
~ I thought Voldemort's face should be a little more white. It looked too much like a normal fleshtone. The shape was awesome, but it needed to be whiter. And RED EYES! COME ON! What was up with the baby blues?!?

However, here are the little things about the movie that made me angry. Stupid oversights, or things they changed but didn't need to:
~ Why did they have to knock Harry out in the burning-down-the-camp scene? He didn't get knocked out in the book! Not even close!  Ron tripped, but that was it.  And they all stayed together!  Why did they need it to be "just Harry"?  Come on!  Just have the kids run into the woods, they see Draco being smug and telling them to "watch out" or something to that effect, Harry sees a house elf and Barty Crouch Jr., and then the Ministry people arrive. End of story. There was no need to change it!
~ Madam Pomfrey can "heal bones in heartbeat", but Harry had cuts on his face for the entire movie, and his arm in a sling, and that funny tentacle bruise for days? The only time an "injury" in the books was supposed to take more than a day to heal was when Draco was exagerating the Hippogriff injury.
~ Death Eaters = Ku Klux Klan?  What's with the dunce caps?
~ Mad-Eye Moody neither looked nor behaved the way I pictured him.
~ What happened to the Veela storyline?  WAH!
~ Why were the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students doing gymnastics and acrobatics in the Great Hall? They attend schools of magic, not gymnastics academies, right?
~ Barty Crouch at Tom Riddle's mansion?
~ Harry was supposed to be TIED to the gravestone, not put into a choke-hold by a scythe. How hard would it be to conjure some ropes?
~ The maze... where were the obstacles? The sphinx? The "upside down" spot? Oh, and Harry DID say that Krum was "bewitched" when he attacked, but how hard would it have been to have Harry say "He's under the Imperius Curse!" instead? GRRRR!!! It almost totally negates the point of showing the Unforgivable Curses earlier in the movie.
~ No mention of the 1000 Galleon prize, or the joke shop, or any of those things.
~ Rita Skeeter almost disappeared off the map after those two scenes.
~ The dragon was supposed to be bent on protecting its nest, so why did it chase Harry around? He was supposed to be flying to lure it away.
~Flitwick body-surfing at the Yule Ball.
~ Harry's little back-flip out of the water when he discovered the Gillyweed gave him fins. That's just not Harry. And what was that charm that was he used to propel himself from the water at the end? GAH! NO!
~ Harry with the egg in the common room... It's not in Harry's personality to say "Who wants me to open it? Who wants me to open it?" *shakes head*  They totally messed up that boy's characterization in some scenes.
~ Finally, while Dan's performance immediately after the Portkey returned him from the graveyard was his best acting yet (I really *believed* him as Harry), what about the Hospital wing scene? The boy was bleeding and in shock, for Merlin's sake!  They were supposed to bring him to the hospital wing, Mrs. Weasley was supposed to hug him... WTF? And Dumbledore... this was by far the worst Dumbledore performance yet.  Why?  When they finally got something so right, why did they get it wrong?
~ And finally, why did people look HAPPY at the end?!? Cedric had just died, and Dumbledore just told them all that Voldemort was back! And Hermione is smiling and talking like change is a good thing! GRRRRR!!!

So, overall, thumbs up.  Good movie, but I get the feeling that if you hadn't read the book, it would be pretty difficult to follow.  But then, if you *have* read the book, like most of us, you're going to notice all those niggling little things that make you want to strangle someone.

~P

Comments

[kriken.livejournal.com]

Must squee and critique with you! Call me tonight, if you've the time? ::bats eyelashes::

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

Word!

My biggest complaint was Dumbledore. He was SO wrong. SO WRONG. He TWITTERED! NO! Albus Dumbledore does NOT twitter! He was just so hyper and out of control. Newll should have made Gamban at least sort of act like the Dumbledore Rowling created... if not making him actually READ the book. Jeez! It's his JOB people! Why can't the boss make the employee do much needed research, I ask you. Gah!

[destinyfroste.livejournal.com]

I forgot about the joke shop plot, another thing they could have easily put in what with all of the screen time Fred and George got anyhow.

The maze itself pissed me off, they messed so much up in there.

[illuminations.livejournal.com]

I agree in some points, but at the same time, when I take into account how much time constraint they had to work with, I think that everything was awesome.

And yeah, I was kind of peeved about the whole Rita/Beetle thing, but I got over it. And the Sphinx. And..stuff. But I imagine that there are other things that they'll insert into the 5th movie, like Fred and George's joke shop.

There's always the DVD with deleted scenes. ;)

[aerynalexander.livejournal.com]

I never thought Moody would ever be more Scottish than the way I pictured him in my head, but there you go. I can't say he was very much like I imagined him either; however, I gave on characters ever being like that when Viggo Mortensen was cast as Aragorn David Thewlis was cast as Remus. Brendan Gleeson surprised me with his general acting competence, since he was really off-putting in Troy. Role vs actor, I guess. I just wonder if there will be more or less Moody pr0n now. *g*

Michael Gambon annoys the living shit out of me too. Can someone please find us a real Dumbledore? Arrrrgh!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

There's Moody porn? I know it exists... and I may have even read one... but I think I blocked out the experience.

And yeah. Dumbledore. *growls*

[notasecretagent.livejournal.com]

(Before I forget, I've definitely read some Moody porn. I don't seem to feel ill thinking about it, so while I can't exactly remember it, it couldn't have been that bad. I think the most notable might've been Moody/Filch. Hmm.)

I felt very similar about the movie. Overall, I give it a hesitant 'good,' but there were a lot of things that I was really confused about. I keep coming back to Harry's character in the common room with the egg... made me so angry. Harry is not Mr. Popular, nor does he want to be. Grrr.

Dumbledore was just a spaz. We're not supposed to know Dumbledore is human and makes mistakes and feels bad about things until the end of book 5. I don't understand why they did that, either.

That said, the highlights for me were definitely Dan's acting after the graveyard scene (*hurts*) and Ralph Fiennes' performance. Oh my. I think that's what redeemed an otherwise pretty mediocre attempt, as far as I was concerned.

Gah, sorry. Now you've got a novel!comment.

[etoile-du-tir.livejournal.com]

the one thing that REALLY bothered me with the cemetary scene was there were only 6 deatheaters. SIX. That is not right at all.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

My god, yes. I really noticed that. There was supposed to be a huge circle! Come on, how scary can a group of SIX people be, against the whole wizarding world? I know there were supposed to be quite a few. *growls* We had a better crew of Death Eaters at the Witching Hour!

Hey!

[omg-ijustheard7.livejournal.com]

Hey! It's Selina and Heather. This is Selina's LJ name, but I haven't updated in awhile, so there really isn't anything worth reading. Just wanted to say thanks again and that your critique is spot on! This movie is definitely the best yet. We need to def. hang out soon and don't forget to embrace your inner Harry! I hope your 'scar' doesn't hurt anymore!

Re: Hey!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Hey guys! *hugs*

LOL... the "scar" stopped hurting about halfway back to Rochester. That was pretty odd. It started with itching, and I tried not to scratch it because I didn't want to smear the makeup everywhere, but it started itching deeper... damn thing. Channeling Harry, methinks. :p

I'm glad you liked my little write-up! I had to get it out in words because it was starting to hurt my brain not to type it up.

[canellaphile.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention in my review (http://www.livejournal.com/users/redpiratemel/88814.html) how much I thought Dumbledore was on crack! Why was he so uppity and angry?! He is not the mentor to Harry in this film that Dumbledore will have to be in future films... it sucked. :( Though I loved the DE looking like the KKK, I agree with you about the element of the galleons and joke shop. In the book Ron's issue with poverty and the twins needing money was kinda important. *shrugs* What are ya gonna do?

And oh yeah...the scene where Harry returns with Cedric's body: amazing. I teared up.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, anyone who didn't get a bit choked up and teary when Harry came back with Cedric's body is just inhuman. Or at least, not a true Potter fan... and that's fairly subhuman in my estimation.

But Dumbledore... WTF?!?

[alexia75.livejournal.com]

My biggest problems with it were with the Harry characterisation. Harry NEVER wants to be the center of attention - isn't that one of the points of the whole damn book? That he would never choose to be a Triwizard Champion.

That and the fact that DD made *no* sense for most of that film. I mean, I know he's supposed to be getting on a bit, but senile?

More in my own review on my lj. Generally though, much better than the first three.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Regarding Harry's characterization... I think there's only one way to save it. Kidnap Dan Radcliffe, force him to read the books again (twice), and then sit him down for a characterization tutorial. And THEN, tell him to grow a backbone so that he *sticks* to that characterization, even when the director tells him otherwise. Good plan?

[degrees.livejournal.com]

Oh em gee, you got almost all of my irritated points!! I was horribly disappointed because of those things!!

And the Ku Klux Deatheaters? My brother and I were struggling not to just laugh at the scenes with them. God, it was funny but SO not what I imagined. The deatheaters are supposed to invoke fear, not hilarity!!

**lurk**

[akana.livejournal.com]

and what about the parting of ways, Fudge and Dumbledore's conversation in the hospital wing? and somehow I feel all the movies should have some Dursleys in them, because Dumbledore later explains the magic behind Harry going back every year. If I didn't read, I wouldn't think Harry had been to Little Whinging all summer. And what about classes? we never even HEARD about classes, we only went to the one class with Moody.

Granted, there is a LOT of stuff going on in those seven hundred pages. Hard to fit it all in to two hours and forty minutes.

By the by: I read Eclipse a little while back. You fucking rock.

additionally,

[elizapants.livejournal.com]

we need the set-up of the weasley's idea for a joke shop for later...and the 1000 galleons...we only needed a sentence or two, and now what- in the 5th movie they're just going to say "oh yeah harry about those 1000 galleons!..."

[imperial-dragon.livejournal.com]

Argh!! it doesnt come out in australia until december the 4th!!! *wails* it sounds great!! dam sounds great!! dan's in oz *pokes out tongue in glee*. and there ae rumours that next year he will go to the school across the road from me (rumours mind you). well he's got a house in my city :P

GoF sounds wicked!! can't wait to see it!!!!!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Aww, not fair to the Australians! Why do that do that to you guys? *pouts on your behalf*

And Dan has a house in your city? As in, Dan Radcliffe?

[mu51ng-drag0n.livejournal.com]

Spot on as always, P.

Though the lack of Draco killed moi. The woods? The train? WTF!

And Hermione actually went to the LIBRARY and held a BOOK in her hands. I almost cried with happiness, I did.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Draco was almost non-existant. VERY annoying. *growls*

But yes, we actually saw Hermione being a bit bookish. I had almost thought they'd forgotten!

[thrintje.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I hated almost every minute of the film. I thought it was confusing, too many important things were missed out and they made it boring!! The beginning was too fast, the middle dragged and I thought the ending was atrocious.

But that's just my opinion *shrugs* I was just so disappointed, because it was a really important film that needed to be good, and it really really wasn't.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*huggles* There was good stuff, and there was bad stuff. I'm still not sure which won out, but when the theatre fucked up the film (skipped a scene, then messed up the video and sound), it totally threw off the flow, so I can't give the best critique of the overall effect. But you're right, this is a pivotal film, and they SHOULD have made it longer if necessary to get everything important in.

[hobbes75.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on just about everything. I liked it, but there were so many things that were just wrong, it took away from the good stuff. Like the entire beginning of the movie and the Ku Klux Death Eaters and no Winky and I could go forever. I also felt like the first half of the movie was really choppy. I didn't like the Yule Ball or the end. Seriously, why was everyone so happy? I wish the train scene had been included. If only for more Malfoy. But the ferret scene - awesome! And I heart Neville and want to read Harry/Cedric now. I will see it again just for the subtext and the Harry/Myrtle in the bathroom.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was a lot of awesome stuff, and I know they couldn't include everything, but as a card-carrying canon-thumper... I must protest! *grins*

[awaywithpixie.livejournal.com]

Nah, none of those things bothered me, but then again, I can see why they did them. It was an almost perfectly executed interpretation of a huge book. I could see why so much stuff was dropped, and it really didn't affect the essence of the film.

But dammit, why couldn't Hermione's dress be the right colour?

And the slash... the slashiest slashfest film on the planet!

I'm actually only happy because the ferret scene was included! ;)

Wintermoon wants her own set of twins...
I want to know if Lucius and Draco come as a 'set', because it's nice to have the whole 'set', as Slughorn knows ;)

*hugs*

Will ring you when I get to NYC. I'm not sure what day I'll be up Boston way, but will find out!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Aaaah! You're alive! I heard that you weren't doing too well *huggles*

And yes, it was extremely slashy! The twins were fucking awesome... and the Harry/Cedric subtext was intense. There was so much great stuff, but my canon-obsessed brain still wants certain things to be more "right". *sigh*

Oh, and I'm hoping to come down to NYC myself soon. Maya is going to be in town, and Cassie invited me to join her for coffee sometime, and I miss the people I stayed with last time I was in NY, so I must come visit... and what better time than when you're there? When are you planning to arrive?
*huggles more*

[kick-it-harder.livejournal.com]

Hey, We met at the GoF premiere, you said you'd draw me some pretty smut of our lovely Draco/Harry.

It was really great to meet you, and hope to read some great slash :D

-Lizzie

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*huggles* HI!!!

I had forgotten your screen name, and had planned to get it at the after-party, but when I went to the after-movie thing, I was late, and people left because the "24-hour" Bickfords was closed (fuckers), so I missed you! (Ooh! Run-on-sentence!) I'm glad you found my LJ.

And of course I can draw you smut! But first I need a scanner, damn it. I need to go back through my LJ and add my smut to memories. Keep an eye on my memories page, and I'll sort it really soon. But you can find my NC-17 fics and art if you poke back through my entries. They're all marked. :D

[kishmish.livejournal.com]

I really like your critiques, some of them were things I'd forgotten from the book. Great review!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it! :)

GOF film

[medicalley.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for your review. I agree totally with nearly all your comments. One canon error that I noticed +++ was both Patil twins apparently being in Gryffindor.This really bugged me for some reason. Also, I too thought Dumbledore was totally OOC in the film, far too twitchy and very unsure/insecure which is NOT how he comes over in books 4 & 5. On the plus side I LOVED the twins and Neville( GO NEV!!)and didnt really miss Dobbby at all.
Having seen the film twice in 24 hours, 0005 and 1930 hrs on opening day, and now being completely knackered, I can't comment any more coherently but I would say that the film makers did a very good job in conveying the MAIN storyline within the 2 hours 30 mins framework.
( BUT I am VERY upset that Bill and Charlie wrere nowhere to be seen....)

BTW I LOVED Eclipse, keep writing


Ali X

Re: GOF film

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh yes, I forgot that! The Patil twins both in Gryffindor... WTF? I must add that immediately. And the missing Weasleys, too.

And... *blushes* Thanks... glad you liked the fic! :)

[evanelric.livejournal.com]

I can actually think of a plausable reason why Winky and Dobby weren't in hte film. They were probably too expensive to animate, plus adding the salaries of two more actors. The movie already cost a bajillion dollars with all the effects from the tournament, and those were things that could be cut without hurting the story too much. My only question is how on earth did NEVILLE manage to nick Gillyweed from Snape's stores??

This also helps to account for Harry getting knocked out at the World Cup- In the book Winky had created the Dark Mark with Harry's wand, which was why he was under suspicion, but since they had taken Winky out they had to create another explanation for why he would be suspect.

I do agree that Harry and Dumbledore's characterisation was off at points. I think they're trying to present Dumbledore as being more human and fallible so it hurts more when he dies, but maybe that's just me. I like knowing that he's not perfect and having those weird little moments, but it is terribly OOC. Harry... I just don't know what was going on there. I could maybe see the little flippy thing, if I was drunk and so was he, just from the pure excitement of being able to do the whole 'I'm a fish!' thing. But not really. And wtf was up with the tentacle hickey? Are we now supportinng evidence of all pairings, including Harry/Giant Squid? *eye twitches*

But I really enjoyed this movie overall, and thought that most of the things were done well. It's not like they forgot to explain who the Marauders were or anything.... *growls* Although I was also disappointed with the firespeaking... It was hard to make out Sirius' face... And WHY, OH WHY?!??? would you address a letter to a convicted criminal?? It would have taken one line of dialogue to explain who 'Snuffles' was, and it also would have not involved Hermione proclaiming for all the Express to hear that Harry should write to Sirius. grrr...

And yeah. The bodysurfing? Right up there with the squid hickeys. And where are the mad acrobatic skillz of the Hogwarts students? I want me some... Although that would explain why their champions didn't win the tournament- they were too busy learning how to break dance to pay attention to the spells.

But overall I thought this was the best movie out of the four. Most of the things they took out and put in were understandable or at least negligible. only the people who read the books will be bothered, but we must remember that they're aimed for different audiences. There are some people who will never read the books, and it's for those people that they do these really random things that make us go 'omeffgwtf???' But I think that in the long run, it's the same story, and they got the major things across. That's what's important.

[jamesofur.livejournal.com]

HEY! i've lurked for a long while but not posted, this is James from expecto if you didn't recognize the username :) I agree with most of what you said though I understand I shouldn't be tooo harsh because it is just a movie not the book, two different things. BUT>..... I'm really really annoyed by the treatment of the two schools specially beaux, come on ALL girls? they were slightly more feminine in the books (sorta french royal court) but they had guys to and instead the whole school including fleur really were fairy princesses even if moody said they weren't it was yuck, and to have the all guys school be all tough and ugly, come on krum was supposed to be tougher but still good looking they made him look....

[kjady.livejournal.com]

I so agree with you P. Of course I didn't get to see it until last night because I had to work at the theater I went to see it in. I can tell you that I hope I NEVER see lines that long agian... *shudders* Your comment about not being able to really understand it if you hadn't read the book yet is very true. A co-worker who was watching the movie with me asked me questions all the way through.

[fanart-fairy.livejournal.com]

An artist participating in fanart_fairy has drawn something for you.

Title: A moment of rest.
Rating: G
For: Eclipse (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/PhoenixSong/Eclipse/)
Artist's notes: I loved this fanfiction and wanted to draw something for you, it's not from any particular scene in the fanfiction, but rather a moment that could have happened 'off camera'. It's a brilliant story in which the relationship between Harry and Draco is built so slowly and carefully and I think it's brilliant :D
Link: You can see the fanart here. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/fanart_fairy/14228.html)

[mirrorwakes.livejournal.com]

Count yourself lucky - Down Under we don't get GoF until the first!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I know... that's what Azhure complained about... so she came up to the States to visit, and I think she's seen it four times now. Er... which is more than me, actually. And she just said she'll see it Friday when she gets home. *growls*