This morning, I saw a preview showing of the new Harry Potter movie, The Goblet of Fire. I've blogged before about my love of the HP franchise and my views of the movies. I thought this was the best of the HP movies so far, but I still didn't like it nearly as much as the books. I did think that the cuts from the book were better this time as was the handling of the backstory.
I must admit that I'm not a fan of most of the new cast, with the exception of Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter. (It's too bad the character wasn't very prominent in the movie.) Cedric, Crouch, Crouch Jr, Karkaroff, and Maxime were OK too. Clémence Poésy is not nearly stunningly beautiful enough or haughty enough to pull off Fleur. Katie Leung as Cho is cute but nothing special. By contrast Stanislav Ianevski is too handsome and stocky to be Krum (who is supposed to be slouchy). Did he have any speaking lines in the movie? I don't think so.
The worst of the new characters is Brendan Gleeson's Mad-Eye Moody. He's way too comical for Alastor, more of a silly drunk than a twitchy, paranoid ex-Auror. Really disappointing.
I also still hate Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Gambon plays Dumbledore as a frightened old man, not in control. Dumbledore is uninspiring and uncharasmatic, without the literal or figurative twinkle in his eye described by Rowling. He doesn't look like the "only one Voldemort ever feared." Hate him, hate him, hate him.
The tasks were done very well. I think the changes for the screen were good. The first task was very cerebral in the book; the big dragon chase was better. The second task looked great. The third task was a good simplification for the movie and took advantage of film's ability to evoke fear and dread. I also loved the stadiums for the Quiddich World Cup and the tournament; they were much cooler than I had visualized. The prefect's bathroom scene with Myrtle was fun too.
Finally, I not sure how I feel about the strongly developed themes of their budding adolescence and interest. It was a clear theme in the book, but not so dominant. It was just so unsubtle. Oh well. I guess it can't all be dragons and fights.
Posted by Tony at November 18, 2005 12:27 AM | TrackBack