caught the sneak preview of “harry potter and the goblet of fire” yesterday (but first had to sit through a mind-numbing presentation of apc’s cooling systems for rack based storage systems)
no big review here – suffice it to say that it was good but nowhere close to cuaron’s magnificent effort.
5 things i liked:
1. the entry of the beauxbatons and durmstrang schools: nice choreography!
2. moody’s theoretical description of the unforgivable curses and practical demonstrations on the spider – merry fun turns to deathly silence.
3. harry’s dragon fight in the first task – wow! really made me jump (and i am guy who feasts on movies like “the ring”)
4. the picturesque grounds and castle as the seasons pass – summer and winter bring a whole new character to the buildings.
5. interludes between the different students – the harry-ron fight and reunion, ron-hermione’s tough chemistry, harry-hermione’s frienship – all come together nicely in many parts of the movie.
5 things i hated:
1. too many deviations from the book – no dobby/winky or mention of any elf or SPEW – would have thought it would have made for good comedy and the weasley twins could have been maximised for some “wizardly wheezes” type fun.
2. quidditch world cup – could have been more interesting by … actually showing the game (atleast a little bit)! the movie skips on after the introduction of the players
3. was that a pirate’s eye patch on mad-eye?
4. cho cho cho – she was just cho ordinary – harry could do better than her!
5. and finally my biggest crib: lord voldemort! come on! where is the depth of character? where is the sonorous voice? where is the charisma? looked like an ordinary man in a mask – which i guess he was.
overall, i was a bit disappointed with the screenplay, but the effects and some intense and comic moments make up for it for a overall rating of 3/5.
November 22, 2005 at 7:49 pm |
Agree with you. Voldemort was a tad disappointing, especially after all the rave reviews Ralp Fiennes got for the role. But I wasn’t too beat up over Voldemort because he doesn’t figure that prominently even in the book. Cho was not the cutie I expected, but with so many areas where the movie fell short of the book, making a list is too depressing
If they change the lead actors, which I fear they might, I’ll perhaps stop watching the movies altogether. Am having a tough time with the new Dumbledore. If I have to also put up with new Harry and Ron and Hermione, let’s call the whole thing off.
November 23, 2005 at 10:29 am |
Hey, something’s broke with your Atom feed. Bloglines doesn’t show you as updating at all