Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
I saw the new Harry Potter film on Friday night. I thought I would post a few thoughts and reactions. First, Hollywood has had its way with the text. You can't read the book and see this as a faithful interpretation. I mean, it is essentially correct in spirit, but it has definitely been fancied up for the box office.
One might even retitle the film to be "Daniel Radcliffe and the Amazing Special Effects."
The movie began, as one might suspect, with the dream. This was accurate except for the glaring addition of Barty Crouch, Jr. to the scene. This addition, to me, absolutely foils the suspense and surprise of the denoument. For cripe's sake! This alteration, I think, is the one which most pisses me off because it serves no purpose except to spoil the fun. The World Cup sequence is interesting, if brief. Quite a spectacle there, but no real quidditch to watch. Moreover, they completely lifted Winky out of the plot, the Weasley's and friends did not appear to be in the top box, and so no explanation is given as to just how Barty Crouch, Jr. was able to conjure the Dark Mark without a wand. No explanation is given on how he managed to not die in Azkaban either. Lots of holes in the plot.
When we get to Hogwarts, the other school's representatives show up right away. It was great watching the Durmstrang ship ascend from out of the Lake, and the Beauxbaton's couch was quite impressive (though I thought they were supposed to be horses not pegasus). Very little is done in the way of plot development or dramatic building to explain the threat that Harry faces. I mean, he is really and truly in danger - someone is trying to kill him - and yet, only token mention of this is made. This threat is what leads the book along. Sure, Harry has to survive the tasks, but more than that, he has to survive the unknown aspect too. The screenplay fails on this point.
The lesson on unforgivable curses with Mad Eye Moody was good, as was the scene where Malfoy becomes the Amazing Bouncing Ferret. Laughed my ass off, just like I did in the book.
The first task (dragons) was a bit drawn out for my tastes. No where in the book do Harry and the Horntail range all over the Hogwarts grounds, so that perturbed me. Also, the way Harry outsmarts the dragon and gets the egg was better in the book. This scene was fun to watch, but kind of flat.
Not enough screen time was given to Rita Skeeter, and the whole mystery of how she got her information was missing. This seems like a critical omission to me, since it plays such a huge part in the next book, but whatever.
The second task was slightly better well-done, but only just. Very little is made of Harry's turnmoil of who to save from the Lake.
The Yule Ball was really enjoyable. I thought the actors did a good job portraying teenage angst and jealousy. However, Emma Watson gives the best performance by far. I totally knew what she was feeling. Again, though, missing from this episode is Hagrid's embarrassing display and confession. (Leaving this out, again, omits any possibility of explaining Hagrid's & Olympia's secret mission.)
The third task in the maze was even more of a stretch from the text. Harry doesn't use his four point spell, amazingly the walls of the hedge move (they don't do this in the book) and there was a significant absence of trials. What the heck was that thing where the hedge roots try to suck you up, anyway? There was no riddle, no sphinx, no blast-ended skrewts. All in all, kind of a let down.
The scene where Voldemort is reborn was very well done, though. This was just as the book portrayed, though more could have been done with the chastisement of the Death Eaters. The priori incantatum was abbreviated (because of all of the plot changes) and might have been more dramatic if left as the original. Even so, you got the gist.
Where the movie really falls flat though, is in the final sequences. Mad Eye Moody's unveiling is not quite as sinister as one could hope. Harry's shock is not as deep and profoundly painful as we have come to expect. But the worst part is Dumbledore. We do not get to see the Warrior Leader Dumbledore in action. His remarks at the end of term fall tepid and fail to build the uncertainty of the War to Come. Nothing is done to organize efforts immediately to begin the fight. Nothing is done to signal Fudge's failure to believe the truth about Voldemort's return.
So, I am at a loss as to how this movie sets up the plot points for the next.
Even so, I enjoyed it. But, the books are still better by a long shot.
Labels: Harry Potter
