Judging by the 101 million dollars made this weekend in the U.S. alone (180 worldwide), there's a good chance anyone reading this has already seen the fourth Potter film by now, so I'll probably be free with spoilers here. And there's nothing in the movie that wasn't in the book, which you should've read already anyway.
So. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the best Potter movie to date. I thought it was phenomenal. Admittedly, Goblet is my favorite book (so far), and I was astounded by what a wonderful adaptation the writer made. Gone is Hermione's quest to free the house-elves, but, for myself, it's not missed a bit. Gone is a lot, actually, which only makes sense as the book could've, if to-the-word translated, run something like ten hours long. So I was worried the story would end up whizzing past important points and feel truncated, but not once did it come off that way. It felt, more than any of the previous films, like a movie, start to finish, a real flesh and blood world and story without a bunch of loose ends and questions hanging off.
And, for the first time, I didn't feel like the special effects were overwhelming the story, but were actually there to serve it. There weren't long loving shots of the rotating staircases just for the gee-whiz factor; it felt like we'd finally gotten that out of the way and now we could just jump in to paying attention to the characters and their interactions.
I do love the third film, director Cuaron really stepped the franchise up after Chris Colombus' boring interpretations of the first two, but even with the third film there was a bit of a disconnect... which I actually think can be blamed on the story itself's structure (sorry, JK!). It's why I wasn't as big a fan of Azkaban (the book) as most Potter fans - the whole circle back through time thing got a little bit on my nerves.
But Mike Newell, director of Goblet, got (in my opinion) a better story and took what Cuaron brought to the table and made the best film to date. The film is a goldmine of set pieces, from the Quidditch World Cup to the three stages of the Triwizard Tournament to the big dance which unexpectedly ended up being my favorite scene - it was all about the characters and their relationships, and we got the first hint of things to come between Ron and Hermione... a coupling of which I am a pathetic uber-fan. Actually, I should hesitate to mention this because it's quite possibly one of the gayest fucking things I've ever done (not involving, you know, the gay sex), but I have no pride so I'll spill - when Hermione stepped onto the staircase and Cho called her beautiful in her dress, I fucking started to cry. I'm lucky my boyfriend didn't leave me right that second. What can I say - I love Hermione, and Emma Watson is perfect.
Ahem. I cried twice during the film, once then, and again at the end, with the death, which was handled spectacularly. Newell holds off on the emotion of the moment for a long time - not until Harry and the body are returned to the school grounds does he smack you with the brunt of it, and that he manages to pull that off is really solid filmmaking.
So... Ralph Feinnes as the big unspeakable? Brilliant. He takes what could've been an impossible role to pull off, the Bad Guy of bad guys, the center of the the terrified imaginations of countless children, and he nails it. He makes Voldemort as scary as I'd ever imagined him to be, and throws him into the pantheon of great cinematic villians. And his make-up job is awesome. That... not nose... shudder.
I'm so incredibly pleased with the film. It hit every note I'd hoped it would, and actually made me want to go back and read books 4-6 again. Now I can't wait for the next film. When's it out already? I want it now!
So. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the best Potter movie to date. I thought it was phenomenal. Admittedly, Goblet is my favorite book (so far), and I was astounded by what a wonderful adaptation the writer made. Gone is Hermione's quest to free the house-elves, but, for myself, it's not missed a bit. Gone is a lot, actually, which only makes sense as the book could've, if to-the-word translated, run something like ten hours long. So I was worried the story would end up whizzing past important points and feel truncated, but not once did it come off that way. It felt, more than any of the previous films, like a movie, start to finish, a real flesh and blood world and story without a bunch of loose ends and questions hanging off.
And, for the first time, I didn't feel like the special effects were overwhelming the story, but were actually there to serve it. There weren't long loving shots of the rotating staircases just for the gee-whiz factor; it felt like we'd finally gotten that out of the way and now we could just jump in to paying attention to the characters and their interactions.
I do love the third film, director Cuaron really stepped the franchise up after Chris Colombus' boring interpretations of the first two, but even with the third film there was a bit of a disconnect... which I actually think can be blamed on the story itself's structure (sorry, JK!). It's why I wasn't as big a fan of Azkaban (the book) as most Potter fans - the whole circle back through time thing got a little bit on my nerves.
But Mike Newell, director of Goblet, got (in my opinion) a better story and took what Cuaron brought to the table and made the best film to date. The film is a goldmine of set pieces, from the Quidditch World Cup to the three stages of the Triwizard Tournament to the big dance which unexpectedly ended up being my favorite scene - it was all about the characters and their relationships, and we got the first hint of things to come between Ron and Hermione... a coupling of which I am a pathetic uber-fan. Actually, I should hesitate to mention this because it's quite possibly one of the gayest fucking things I've ever done (not involving, you know, the gay sex), but I have no pride so I'll spill - when Hermione stepped onto the staircase and Cho called her beautiful in her dress, I fucking started to cry. I'm lucky my boyfriend didn't leave me right that second. What can I say - I love Hermione, and Emma Watson is perfect.
Ahem. I cried twice during the film, once then, and again at the end, with the death, which was handled spectacularly. Newell holds off on the emotion of the moment for a long time - not until Harry and the body are returned to the school grounds does he smack you with the brunt of it, and that he manages to pull that off is really solid filmmaking.
So... Ralph Feinnes as the big unspeakable? Brilliant. He takes what could've been an impossible role to pull off, the Bad Guy of bad guys, the center of the the terrified imaginations of countless children, and he nails it. He makes Voldemort as scary as I'd ever imagined him to be, and throws him into the pantheon of great cinematic villians. And his make-up job is awesome. That... not nose... shudder.
I'm so incredibly pleased with the film. It hit every note I'd hoped it would, and actually made me want to go back and read books 4-6 again. Now I can't wait for the next film. When's it out already? I want it now!
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