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...and it was awesome. I laughed. I cried. I loved it. They left out some interesting plot points, such as Hagrid being half-giant or Dobby bringing the gillyweed, but it was still enjoyable. Ralph Fiennes was unrecognizable as Lord Voldemort. Neville was especially cute as well.
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esl - I think it was either cut out some of the book or make it into two movies. And I really don't see how they could have made it into two movies without taking away some of the effect of the story. I was sad about the cuts to the script, but I think they were essential in order to preserve the plot.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Alrighty. I absolutely loved it. I didn't miss the minor plot points that were missing. I liked the design a lot. I loved the new characters - even poor sucky Fleur. Neville was very adorable. The Pensieve scene was remarkably well done. I thought the kids acted better than before.
There were only a couple things I didn't like. I have never liked Michael Gambon as much as I liked Richard Harris - the former lacks the majesty the latter had. Tough beans for me, I guess. And I have to second the Not Enough Snape sentiment.
Other than that, I loved loved loved the movie. It's by far my favourite movie of the series, much as PoA is my favourite book of the lot.
I do want to see it many more times to see everything I missed - we were in the second row and that got confusing at times.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I thought the beginning felt a little rushed, but that's because it was. The only way they could get through the main points of the plot was to gloss over the background information at the beginning. Other than that I thought it was really really good. Very funny, I was expecting funny. I look forward to seeing it again with my family over Thanksgiving.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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And holy crap, I love that scene with Snape and all of them in some sort of study hall and them getting caught talking over and over.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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*whispers* Samarkand, my kids get Nickelodeon magazine and I can't bring myself to throw out last month's issue. He's on the cover with a short new haircut. Such nice blue eyes. I'm way too old for this teen heartthrob thing.
I wonder how much it would gross him out to know so many moms think he's growing up quite yummy?
Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Emma is turning into a very pretty young woman. I took my kids to the 12:00 AM screening last night and my 13 yr old son kept going on about Hermione and how cute she was.
BTW the movie was fantastic!
Posts: 514 | Registered: May 2005
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Young harry needs a haircut. Actually, Ron too. And the twins. Especially the twins. Their hair was like an early 80's girl thing.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I liked it. I thought Dumbledore was sounding a bit Irish; I'm pretty sure Michael Gambon's Irish. I'd assume this was a conscious character choice, because I know Michael Gambon can do a flawless English accent when he wants.
I don't know if this is just me, but Hermione and Harry were having lots of moments. I suspect that Mike Newell is a disappointed Harry-Hermione shipper who's getting in his small bit of moments for them before the inevitable happens.
Also, I cried when Cedric died. Like a baby...a hungry angry baby...
It was good. Actually, I think this one might have been very very good indeed if I liked the fourth book, but I've never liked the fourth book. I didn't like the tournament, I didn't like the Blast-Ended Skrewts or Ludo Bagman or Barty Crouch or the whole romantic plot with Hagrid and Madame Maxime. I liked Rita Skeeter--Miranda Richardson was, of course, absolutely brilliant in the part.
So yeah. Good, but I didn't enjoy it as much because I don't like the book.
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I don't cry easily in movies. I mean, hardly at all. This one made me cry at three different parts!
Posts: 407 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I didn't get Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, frankly.
I don't think any of the movies have been able to make Voldemort anywhere near as frightening or compelling as he should be. Possibly Young Tom Riddle, but even then -- he was kind of like a pretty boy with an attitude.
I think Fiennes just sort of looked like a vaguely snake-like baby. In flowy, sensual robes. 0_0 i wasn't geting the terror.
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I don't remember off-hand, but did Voldemort use wandless magic in the books? Because that was fracking awesome.
And also something I don't remember from the books: the single-gender schools. I guess I missed that every single time through...
EDIT: After some quick research, I found that, in the book, Beauxbatons is co-ed. p. 244, American version - "Harry ... now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged form the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxine." Hm.
quote:I don't know if this is just me, but Hermione and Harry were having lots of moments. I suspect that Mike Newell is a disappointed Harry-Hermione shipper who's getting in his small bit of moments for them before the inevitable happens.
quote:I don't know if this is just me, but Hermione and Harry were having lots of moments. I suspect that Mike Newell is a disappointed Harry-Hermione shipper who's getting in his small bit of moments for them before the inevitable happens.
The Harry-Hermione stuff is actually very much out of the books--and, I think, intended as a contrast to any of her awkward physical moments with Ron. I just watched the three previous movies, and it's pretty amusing to see how Hermy and Ron interact. The big blowup at the Yule ball starts getting setup even in Chamber of Secrets.
Posts: 47 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Emma was sublime during the Yule Ball confrontation -- really in this whole movie. I wonder if she's really grown as an actress THAT much in the past few years, or if this director just knew exactly how to get an amazing performance out of her.
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I agree, very much. Hermione was awesome in this movie. and I loved the scenes where she's trying to help Harry and Ron make up.
Posts: 1056 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I agree too, in spots. She didn't get a chance to be the awesome genius person that Hermione really is, I thought, in this movie. We've entirely stopped seeing her obsessive fuss about school, which is a big part of who Hermione is, but I guess that was partly because there were no school-related activities except for the one DADA class and the one study hall with Snape smacking people.
However, I felt so sorry for her at the Yule Ball, when she was positively glowing at first and then had her whole perfect evening ruined. Fooey on Ron. It reminded me of middle-school dances, when half the girls always ended up crying. Poor Hermione. I need to reread all those books immediately.
Posts: 910 | Registered: May 2000
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Well, the movie was disappointing. Not for me, necessarily - I loved it - laughed, cried, gasped - I was drawn in every minute...
...Because I actually knew what was going on.
Anyone who watches that film without having read the book beforehand will be completely lost. I've read the book several times, and I still had trouble following some of the faster sequences. Half the freaking movie made absolutely no sense unless you knew something that happened in an earlier book, or happened in this book but was left out of the film. As a movie for Harry Potter fans, it's great, but as a stand-alone film, it really sucks. I feel bad for all the people that Potter fans are dragging along to see the movie in hopes of getting them interested in the series, because this is NOT a good introduction. It moves way too quickly, they leave out a TON of important plot points, and it tries to cram far too much information into a short span of time. I enjoyed it, but....it just wasn't what I expected. I expected a complete story, and this was a jumbled-up, confusing mess.
Daniel Radcliffe IS getting awfully cute, though.
And I thought Ralph Fiennes made the most perfect Voldemort EVER.
Posts: 1225 | Registered: Feb 2002
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There were scenes where she was doing all of her acting with her eyebrows, to the point where I was worried about possible facial tics, but she did a fantastic job through most of it especially during the dance.
Loved the emphasis on the Weasley twins! Yay!
And Hagrid did mention his half-giant heritage. Did you miss it? When he mentioned his mother and how he could pick up his father?
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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He never actaully said he was a half giant though, all that means is he's big, and I mean that's pretty obvious just from looking at him. They also cut the whole scandal about it, though I guess they more or less had to as, as far as the movie was concerened, Rita wasn't an Animagus and coudln't have been getting the stories like she was in the book...
Posts: 187 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I wish half the movie was just the graveyard scene. I thought there were some great moments, but it was just so rushed. Ditto on Snape. I was pretty cheesed off that I could count his lines on one hand.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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disclaimer: this is all my opinion. It may seem like I'm stating fact, but I'm not and I don't think that you're wrong if you disagree with me.
Wow. I can't believe you guys liked Hermione. She drove me crazy all the way through. I thought her 'moments' were contrived, her yelling was unbelievable. The only thing she could do sort of well was be twitterpated (and I imagine that this is because she has real life experience.) I guess I should watch it again, but I was bugged. Brettly, I agree with everything you said as well.
Best character awards go to: Cedric (yay!) He wins the award for "Now I can't read the book without picturing this performance in my head."
Moody: He wins the award for "He's not at all what I pictured when I read the book, but his performance made me forget what I read in the book."
Harry: He wins the award for "Finally. I'm convinced that you're a vulnerable, lovable, awkward, scared, powerful teenager." Bravo!!
Cho: She wins the "She is the cutest Scottish Asian in the world!" award. I thought she was adorable!!
Ralph Fiennes: He wins the "I still haven't decided how I feel about your performance in the role of the most terrifying arch villain of the century, but I love you so much anyway that I'm glad you were in the movie!" award.
I LOVED the Priori Incantatum scene. It was done quite beautifully, including the delightful look Harry gives to both of his parents before he has to let go of the wand. I loved the scene after that which showed the grief of Cedric's father and spent some time letting us know that this really was a big deal. *sniffle*
I thought the script was done well. They left out plot lines that we miss, but that make sense to ditch (the Rita Skeeter line). I agree that the whole thing did feel rushed though...was it just me, or did that seem that it could be helped with some smoother editing and camera work?
I honestly didn't like the directing style...but the effects were lovely. Each task was completely exciting and thrilling (except the stupid superfluous dragon chase) and visually stunning. Great fun. I'm also glad they managed to squeeze the Quidditch world cup in there, even if it was only for a minute.
Yeah. And I did miss Snape this time around too. He had some choice looks and lines though (which made me notice his absence MORE!)
Anyway, I could go on forever. I need to mull it over some more now that I've finally seen it. I'm still not sure about Voldemort. I agree that he could have been made to look more terrifying...he was a little too...naked. I wanted a hood, some green mist, some more self-talk about how awesome he is. But I do think Fiennes' performance was outstanding.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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(Oh, and I'm one of those folks who digs the Harry/Hermione shipping, so I'm glad there were spots there. It seems like Hermione is the only person around whom Harry can truly be himself. Even around Ron he's got to be a tough guy most of the time.)
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I really enjoyed the contrast between the entrance of the students from Beaubaxtons and the students from Durmstrang. The way that the tasks were portrayed was really true to the book as well; I think that a lot of it was true to the book, right down to the dialogue, which I really enjoyed.
That said, I wasn't terribly happy with the ending ... I think an important point that was missed was the "parting of the ways" between Dumbledore and Fudge. It is that parting of the ways that sets up the entire fifth book and why Umbridge was sent to Hogwarts in the first place. There wasn't enough emphasis on the ideological difference between those two. Also, I can't really buy as Dumbledore as the all-powerful, all-knowing master of magic that he is. What was with that scene where he grabs Harry and asks him if he entered the tournament?
quote:Also, I can't really buy as Dumbledore as the all-powerful, all-knowing master of magic that he is. What was with that scene where he grabs Harry and asks him if he entered the tournament?
Yes! Yes! Yes! That part and the point at which Dumbledore sits on a stone step (!) in his office and says something like "That gets maddening." He's not supposed to do that! He's supposed to sit behind his desk, stroking Fawkes and saying some enigmatic nonsense that vaguely expresses displeasure while giving away the plot of book 7.
Oh, and I agree with the no "Parting of the Ways" thing too, but hadn't actually thought of it yet. I was too worked up over how much I liked Voldemort.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Overall I was very disappointed. I liked the humor. There was a 10 year old girl who sat close to me who was truly terrified..real tears. I just thought..."eh..it is ok."
I can understand the rushed beginning. The graveyard was done "ok." It could of used more development.
They totally messed up the mer-people scene. We got no real sense of Harry's horror at finding out (thinking) he was responsible for saving his friends life. There was no real explanation or proper showing of the girl not making it to her little sister.
So what Harry saved the little sis..no one in the movie thought she would have been in any real danger. The whole underwater scene was rushed, underdeveloped, and captured none of the horror and bravery of the book.
I read the book and was confused. Oh yeah, the pop-rock and roll in the movie really destroyed the mood for me.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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- Music sucked. It was fairly generic and didn't catch any of the dark undertones that show themselves in especially this book. - It was rushed, the pace was whack, and things introduced in the first half weren't followed up on, and things that happened in the second half weren't led up to. - I personally was going in excited to see Veelas. - Come on, he chases the dragon all over the grounds?? The grindylows suddenly attack after the mermaids somehow let Harry take both of the prisoners?? This is precious time that could be used to do something important... like wrap up Rita Skeeter's part, or explain what the heck is going on, or maybe to explain the part where the wands connected or give prior incantato more than a passing mention. And Fudge? Hello?? - The photography consisted of swirling around large sets til we get nauseous then zooming in to action where we see only a character's face and a lot of movement. Not impressed. - Some of the CGI (Harry swimming, the leprechaun) was awful. - The maze should have been scarier if they were going to make it just the maze that was the task... this could have been fixed with proper music and a little more time devoted to the character's response to the creepy instead of all of a sudden they're all freaking out. - Dumbledore when he finds Harry in the pensieve... sits and stares off tiredly? This may be appropriate for the time but the movie does not convey all the things that could be wearing down on him, or why suddely he's not the charming, self-assured man he usually is. - The book was about what happens leading up to each task, NOT THE TASKS THEMSELVES. CAN YOU SAY HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER?! - Ok, don't tell Harry he needs to go back to the Dursleys. See if I care. - Voldemort was really... flamboyant. I wasn't scared of him! Shouldn't he be a little less... human? Makeupping his nose over doesn't qualify as dehumanizing. - Krum and Fleur were great, especially Krum... they deserved a little more attention.
Pros:
- Some of the CGI was magnificent (the dragon! the dragon! ... and the bottom of the lake was gorgeous, I wish they showed more... the maze was more than I could have ever imagined) - All of the characters looked GREAT. - The parts where the kids were being kids made me fall in love. - Madame Maxime was awesome, believeable, and perfect for the role - I laughed more than I have at any other HP movie. The parts that weren't taken directly from the book were wonderfully written. I'm glad the twins got more screen time. - I. Love. Neville. - The movie was gorgeous! Eye candy, yessss! - I kinda liked the part where Voldy was taking off the death eater's masks, he actually seemed powerful. - Wormtail was gross and creepy! Awesome! - Krum was well cast and well done, and deserved to have less fist-pumping time and more character development. - I really felt that Hermione and Ron want to be together when they fought at the ball, moreso than in the book.
edit: and what lem said, I definitely agree... the underwater scene had so much stupid flashing of fins that it missed the real point.
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I was disappointed. I want to point out all the things I didn't like about it, but honestly, even though I saw it 12 hours ago, I don't even remember that much of it, other than the big eye candy scenes.
I remember I didn't like Dumbledore through half of it. He isn't the sage he is in the books, half the time he seems clueless, the other half he is totally out of character, such as when he rushes into that room and practically assaults Harry.
The whole thing was rushed, and I am really curious to hear from non-book readers on what they thought. I haven't read the books in months, and to be honest I was a little confused at parts. The person I went with has only read the first book, and saw the other movies. She had almost no idea what was going on half the time, but just liked the effects. Also, she thought the time ellapsed in the movie was about a week and a half, not an entire school year.
Other than the fact that it snowed a bit, there was no passage of time in the movie. Hell, it was barely even at a school. The movie cuts out everything that happens between the three challenges, and that's where a lot of the heart of the book is.
I realize I have to make allowances, obviously they can't include everything, and they did a good job of cutting out stuff we don't miss (NO DOBBY! JOY!), but to me, the story is a bit lacking, and we're rushed from cool CGI scene to cool CGI scene.
And the dialogue in some of the scenes was sooo horribly bad and cheesy. Some cheesy I am okay with, it's what middle schoolers do, but come on, in some scenes Hermione, Ron and Harry were talking like second graders, and in another, Hermione is using words like 'loquacious', which I don't think even the average human being knows the meaning of, let alone a bunch of 14 year old kids whose specialty is magic, not the dictionary. I had a problem with them trying to make Hermione's word usage sound uber-intelligent, but then in the next scene showing their maturity levels as being obviously sub-par. It's jarring.
All in all, I have to say it was fantastic eye candy. The dragon scene was awesome, if not a little too long. The flying over the castle and him getting knocked off his broom and all that was not needed, but whatever, five minutes here, five minutes there, not like that time could have been used for something better. And the scene where Cedric is brought back and his father is crying over his body was emotionally powerful, but I give less credit to that, and more power to Rowling for writing an emotionally powerful death scene, and the actor for having some convincing sorrow.
But PoA was a hundred times better in my opinion. Heck, I didn't even like the first two movies all that much, or the books, but as representations of the (much shorter, I know) books, I like them better, and as complete stories I like them better.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I'll probably see it again, but...
They left out so much. I realize they had to leave a lot on the cutting room floor, but it seems they left out lots of necessary explanation, too! I mean, if I hadn't read the book and seen the film first, I'd be amazed when I read the book, because it'd seem to be like 3x longer.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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See, I wasn't even bothered by what they left out. *shrug* I was bothered by what they did with what was left in.
I'm in agreement with a lot of what you guys have already said. Myr, you're SO right about the music. It was like canned movie score with the Harry Potter main theme in there now and then. Sad because the score to Harry Potter 3 was brilliant. I know John Williams couldn't do this one, but I wish the person who did it had tried to keep the mood.
Again and again, I keep coming back to the DIRECTING. The shots, the editing decisions, the performances from the actors...it all comes down to a director whose style I don't like and whose interpretations I don't agree with. Too bad for me though, it really was a beautiful movie to see.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Did everyone have the half hour of movie trailers before the film too? I have never seen that many commercials and trailers before a film before. I was a little annoyed.
Until I saw the preview for the new M. Night Shymalyan movie. I don't understand it, and it looks weird, actually looks like a movie I'd never even give a second look to normally. But when the words "written and directed by M. Night Shymalyan" came up on the screen, I felt a tingle of excitement run through me. I think it was called "Lady in the Water" or something like that.
The tapdancing Penguin movie looked cute too. But then, anything with CGI characters voiced by Robin Williams deserves a second look.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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We only saw the preview for the tapdancing penguins when I saw it, but I think that's just because the previews were cut short for some reason. It was a really abrupt start to the movie, and we were all relatively confused.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Oh I'm psyched for Happy Feet. It may be a bad movie in the end, but penguins dancing! I'm curious about the plot though.
As for HP, I definately liked the entrances of the two other schools, I thought that was awesome. As Lyr said, when Dumbledore comes in after Harry's name has been drawn and practically assaults Harry totally shocked me. It was definately out of character. I think I'm one of the few people who likes the new way he's portrayed than the old way because I can't stand people who speak slowly, in the first movie he spoke too slowly for me.
The scene where Neville is practicing dancing is fantastic! He's so adorable and we finally get to see that he's really smart in Herbology.
As I commented in the other thread, I think they should have mentioned some things about Moody, ie how Crouch Jr got out of Azkaban, how Dumbledore knew to come after Moody and Harry after the graveyard scene.
I wish they had included the Spinx and the spider in the maze scene and cut the dragon scene a bit short. It was too long and probably just done to show off the CGI of the dragon.
I liked Voldemort, I thought he was great. The flair was awesome, in my opinion. Harry's scene with Cedric when they return was very well done.
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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I had been looking forward to the movie for so long...and I hated what I eventually got. They either took out some of the really great scenes or chopped them in half to make room for, what? Harry sliding around on a roof, some swimming, and empty chattering to name a few. The characters...I thought they were off. Dumbledore asaulting Harry, then getting all unsure of himself. Voldemort was...pathetic. And what was up with the lizardy tounge thing Barty had going on? Yech.. Ahhhhh! The hair! Eeew! It did not feel at all like they were at the Hogwarts we all know and love. Pretty much ditto everything bad MyrddinFyre said.
Honestly, the only good things about this movie were Neville, Ron, and Cedric.
Posts: 1215 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I loved the music for it. I've liked Patrick Doyle ever since he did the music for Frankenstein. Kenneth Branaugh uses him for all his movies. I'm getting the soundtrack soon, I hope.
Inconveniently for the story, the actor who plays Neville is getting quite yummy.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote: wish they had included the Spinx and the spider in the maze scene and cut the dragon scene a bit short. It was too long and probably just done to show off the CGI of the dragon.
My thoughts exactly. Did we really need to see Harry's broom version of the Red Baron? The hedgemaze was dumb. They were in that thing for like 10 minutes and Fleur was freaking out like it was the end of the world. They were attacked by twigs. No blast ended skrewts, no Sphinx, no giant spiders, basically nothing of what we expected. I think it was kinda of goofy.
The entire point of that maze to was test their MAGICAL skills. So far as I could tell, anyone with a little bit of nerve and skill at the shuttle run could have made it through that maze okay.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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One other thing. I was annoyed with how....resolved, the movie felt at the end.
Isn't the last chapter of GoF "The Second War Begins"?
Sure Voldemort is back, but at the end of the fourth book you got a sense of, danger mixed with the knowledge that the whole world disbelieves Harry. Now they will have to spend ANNOYING amounts of time in the fifth movie securing this fact, when they should have had it already set up for that movie. Plus, it leaves the audience with a sense of "oh crap" for the next movie, which they really should have.
The end of the book was a cavalcade of emotions. Cedric is dead: Sad! Voldemort is back: Fear! Nobody believes Harry: Disbelief! The realization of Mad-Eye: No Way!
Not quite that cut and dry, I know. But there was a LOT thrown into the end of the last book, and that kept building and building. I didn't feel that here. To be honest, I'm still of the opinion that this should have been two movies, filmed concurrently, and aired either six months or a year apart. For a billion reasons I think it should have been done that way.
There was no real emphasis or reaction to Voldemort being back, we didn't get to see any of that. For people who haven't read the book, there isn't the same sense of excitement.
Edit to add: This CNN article sums up a lot of my feelings about the film's shortcomings.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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There were only two things that really bugged me about the movie:
Ralph Fiennes' Voldy. I always imagined (and will continue to imagine) Voldemort as being very regal and composed. I imagined a booming baritone voice filled with command. A voice people would follow. I loved the look they chose, but I wish he hadn't been all whispy and I hated how he was all over the place shwooshing his robes around.
The end scene with all the students preparing to leave. Cedric died. Shouldn't this be a very down scene, with people struggling to joke with their friends? Way too much laughter and good times.
On the positive:
I thought the leads were all a lot better than previously. (Although Radcliff seems a lot better when he's doing comedy.)
Supporting cast continues to be absolutely wonderful.
I felt the increased humour captured the spirit of the books much more than the previous movies.
Overall, this has been my favourite of the Potter films so far. The first two are pretty bad and the third one (for me) had pacing issues which make it impossible to watch. Thumbs up.
Posts: 254 | Registered: Apr 2005
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