erised-gofmovie.html

Mike Newell	Director
Steve Kloves	Screenplay
J.K. Rowling	Novel

I saw it. I liked it. And I intend on seeing it again and probably again and again. I am thrilled that it had such a great opening weekend here in the States and around the world ~ $101.4 million in the U.S. and $181 worldwide. Woohoo!! That being said, after much deliberation, I have some thoughts, opinions, pro and con, and questions about the fourth HP movie.

I would like to preface this review by stating yes, GOF is a huge book and unless it was to be made into a thirty-hour mini-series the film’s writer, director, producers had to trim a lot. As a result, I felt that they assumed that everyone watching the film has read the book and that we are all reading between the lines to fill in the gaps. Scenes whiz by faster than a speeding Firebolt. That’s good because there’s never a dull moment; but it’s also too bad because some great characters, dialogue, and whole scenes were sliced pretty thin or are gone completely… portkeyed right out of the film entirely. I missed not seeing Molly Weasley, the Dursleys, and Dobby; and seriously, only seeing Sirius (Gary Oldman) once as a glowing red ember face in the fire just didn’t do it for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I was riveted to my theatre seat for the whole two-and-a-half hours. This movie is jammed-packed with one heart-stopping moment after another from the Death Eater riotous pandemonium at the Quidditch World Cup to the three heart-pounding Tri-Wizard events to the climatic, heart-wrenching, and horrifying graveyard scene. It’s just that the producers tempted us with a taste of the treat and I wanted the whole thing… or at least a bitter bite.

Wow-Factor: Unbelievable CGI Special FX! The Stadium at the World Cup, the Hungarian Horn-tailed dragon, the Mer people, etc.: all amazing. If you can see this movie at an IMAX, do it!

I do have a few questions about plot choices, though. In the book, I really liked that Harry had to dive and dodge the tethered dragon while still luring it away from the Golden egg so that he could then snatch it literally out from under her. Although I thought the castle crawling scene was cool, I don’t see why they changed something that wasn’t broken in the first place.

The underwater scenes of the second task are beautiful… and pretty close to the way Jo originally wrote them, although, the four captives were just floating underwater in the film instead of being bound to a statue… and Harry used a rock to cut the ties. He uses his wand in the movie, which I believe the mer people didn't like in the book.

The maze was amazing, but I missed the creatures crawling, pouncing, and pacing about. I missed the four points spell. I couldn’t get into the fact that the “maze changes people” as Dumbledore warns Harry before he goes in… no, the fake Mad Eye Moody changes people with the Imperious Curse… wasn’t that and the other Unforgivable curses the main points of Moody’s class and the whole book? That concept was dropped from the storyline like a stone gargoyle, I thought. But then, many story points were lost or never found in the film, so what are you gonna do?

The acting was brilliant. Daniel Radcliffe just keeps getting better and better as an actor, not to mention, stunt man. I root for Harry; I sympathize, laugh, cry, and fear for and with Harry. This character has grown both in the books and on screen with each passing “school year.” Daniel did everything I think he could to pull all emotions to the fore front for this film. I wish there been more time to see the reasons why he had these emotions, like why he was jealous of Cedric… It wasn’t because Cedric was the favorite for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but because Cedric asked Cho Chang to the Yule Ball first and she accepted. I did enjoy the bath scene with Moaning Myrtle. I love Myrtle’s ghostly character and the fact that Dan had to pretend that the actress (Shirley Henderson) was really cuddling next to him in the water was great. He convinced me. Dan, keep up the great work!!

Emma Watson aka Hermione has grown and blossomed into a lovely young lady and talented actress. I think my favorite Hermione moment was when she entered the Yule Ball with Victor and upon seeing Harry gave a teeny-weeny, little nervous titter which translated to, “It’s really me. I can hardly believe it myself, and I feel wonderful!” It was perfect.

Rupert “Ron Weasley” Grint. Harry’s side-kick, straight man, yes, best friend, and anchor. Ron’s emotions are all over the place in this film… but mostly he’s jealous of Harry being a Tri-Wizard Champion and of Victor Krum for sweeping Hermione out from under his very nose. In the book Ron is such a Krum fan and is so hugely devastated when Hermione turns out to be Krum’s Yule Ball date. At the end of the book when Krum leaves Hogwarts it takes Ron a lot of courage to get over his jealousy and ask Krum for his autograph. We applaud Ron… but we don’t get to do that in the movie. Sigh.

I really enjoyed Brendan Gleeson as Mad Eye Moody. The screen sparkled when he gruffly limped in front of the camera, his own magical eye grotesquely mesmerizing. I thought his interaction with Harry and the rest of the cast was amusing, as well as scary, and the Unforgivable Curses classroom screen was terrific. I would have liked to have seen Harry, while trapped in Moody’s office at the end of the film, glance into the Foe-glass (since it was referred to earlier to Harry by Moody) to see Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall bursting through the door. The Draco-the-Ferret scene was also entertaining.

Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort, hairless and snakelike, slithered and struck with absolute silky evilness, and I applaud him having to wear that mask and still be able to breath! I think he makes a great Dark Lord; I hope he comes back to do Order of the Phoenix and the rest of the books… if they do them.

One of the best (or maybe I should say two of the best) original casting choices made way back for Sorcerer’s stone were the Phelps twins to play the Weasley twins, Fred and George. Their scenes have always been fun and in GOF they rise to the challenge of being even more entertaining. The timing (before and after drinking aging potions) between these two guys is spot on!

I also liked Neville (Matthew Lewis) being spotlighted to help Harry get the Gillyweed for the second task; but again, I missed Dobby and any mention of the house elves at all. The scene after Moody’s class where Neville is standing miserably alone on the staircase next to a stained glass window is well done, especially the post script showing the rain/tear drop sliding down the glass figure’s cheek mirroring Neville’s emotional anguish.

Flash! Severus Snape’s scenes severely severed! The nice thing about Snape is that he is so mean to Harry that we love to hate him. I love watching Alan Rickman do Severus Snape, but except for a couple of minor scenes that keep us from forgetting about him, he’s given little to do in GOF…. Fortunately, Alan Rickman has such stage presence that the little bits are at definitely memorable. I’m sorry they didn’t include the Filch, Snape, Moody, and Harry after the Bath scene when Harry’s leg gets caught by the trick stair. It’s a great bit in the book and it would have been great in the movie. A lot of missed tension and interaction all round. Too bad.

I am so looking forward to seeing Tom Felton’s Draco in the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Hopefully his part won’t be boiled down to one or two passing scenes as it was in GOF. Draco is Harry’s peer nemesis and that relationship needs to continue to develop on screen as it does in the books… Granted, Draco makes a cute ferret, but I am disappointed Tom was given the bounce in this movie.

Minerva McGonagall: Dame Maggie Smith is so elegant, yet more than capable of giving us a chuckle if the scene calls for it. She plays Professor McGonagall so perfectly and her role in GOF was substantially fulfilling. The dance lesson scene is delightful.

Robbie Coltrane is such a great Hagrid and he would be sorely missed if he weren’t given time in these films. It wouldn’t be Hogwarts with him…

Michael Gambon is a terrific actor, but forgive me, I really miss Richard Harris’s Dumbledore. I didn’t notice it as much in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but in Goblet of Fire the vast difference in character is starkly apparent. Harris’s Dumbledore, I think, was far more akin to J.K. Rowling’s vision: a wise and subtle wizard with a twinkle in his eye that belies the hidden power and strength he also possesses. Mr. Gambon, to me, is too brash and forceful up front. His Dumbledore’s soulfire blazes on the outside for all to see with no chance for a surprise spark to suddenly ignite. He is very good and I accept him in the role, but I wish the transition of character style would have been smoother.

Lucius Malfoy: Jason Isaacs is so deliciously bad as Draco’s maleficent father. He’s just so good at acting evil. What a eclectic actor. Even though his scenes were few, each one allows him to be brilliant.

Rita Skeeter: If you have never had the pleasure of seeing Miranda Richardson’s ditzy Queen Elizabeth I in the classic British series, Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson then you must!! She’s terrific! That said, Miss Richardson was not used enough or to the best of her amazing ability in GOF. She was great but both Miranda and Rita have a lot more to offer. I am bugged that we don’t get to see her transfigure into a big green gossip-hungry beetle!

And likewise, not enough time was given to the new students, Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattison), Fleur Delacour (Clemence Posey), Cho Chang (Katie Leung), or Victor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski). Cedric was given more than the others, but I wanted to know all of them better and to understand why Harry, Ron, and Hermione feel the way they do about them.

Barty Crouch Sr. and Jr. (Roger Lloyd-Pack and David Tennant): They were okay. I didn’t feel that B.C. Sr. is as obsessive-compulsive as he is in the book, so while he was nervous he didn’t act insane. Jr. on the other hand was sufficiently crazy for both of them.

Both Frances de la Tour as Madame Maxime and Predrag Bjelac as Igor Karkaroff are fine, but their characters (unlike in the book) don’t really impact the filmed story one way or another.

** How did Barty Jr. escape from Azkaban in this version? In the book, he and his mother secretly exchange places and he remains hidden under an invisibility cloak and the Imperious Curse at his father’s house,also under the watchful eye of Winky, the house elf. Here there’s no mention of mum, no mention of Winky, or of slacking off Dementors; and as far as we know he can’t transfigure into a dog like Sirius did… so how’d he do it?

** Was something cut from the scene after Harry finds Barty Sr.’s dead body? Suddenly he’s called to Dumbledore’s office and it seems that the Headmaster, Fudge, and Moody already know about it ~ just a bit of a transition jolt.

** Why would Ron know about the dragons for the first task? Wasn’t it all supposed to be a big hushed secret and wasn’t Ron as surprised as Harry upon first hearing about the Tri-Wizard tournament?

** Why did they bring back the actors from the first and second movies to play Harry’s parents? They’re toooooooo old. James and Lily Potter died when they were about twenty-five or younger, right? Did they grow to middle-age after death? In the POA film, the actors were different and younger. What happened?

What happpened to the prize money - the 1,000 galleons that Harry wins but gives to Fred and George at the end so they can start their magic shop? How are they going to fix this in the next movie?

** In the GOF poster book there is a picture of Ron holding his owl, Pigwidgeon. If you’ve read the book you know that Sirius, by way of owl post, gave the delivering owl to Ron. They obviously shot the scene of Ron getting “Pig,” but then they cut it. How many other deleted scenes are lying on the editors’ cutting room floor? I’m sure the Reparo charm will neatly reattach them so that they are in the DVD release.

Well, I really can’t say enough about this movie, but ironically, I’m sure I’ve said way too much here. Please indulge me a few more lines, however, to give credit to everyone, and I mean all, who had a hand in creating the movie magic of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Congratulations, Steve Kloves, Mike Newell, and David Heyman, on a job well done. It was no easy task turning a 700 plus page book into a 120 page workable script and then into a fire-breathing feature. Perhaps facing a dragon would have been easier. Thank you.

Also, I want to applaud Patrick Doyle’s GOF soundtrack. Following in the footsteps of John Williams’ last HP three scores has to be thought-provoking to say the least. I think John Williams is incredible and everything he composes is literally sweet music to my ears. Nonetheless, I have long been a fan of Patrick Doyle’s film music too, ever since Henry V back in 1989. His numerous credits are impressive, and I am so excited that he was allowed to add to his list a really outstanding score for the fourth Harry Potter movie. Well done.

Of course, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie (or any other Harry Potter film) wouldn't have been made if it first hadn't been magically created by Ms. Rowling. Kudos to the real magician of it all.

Burbank, CA: There's musical magic afoot on the Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, set for release on Warner Sunset Records, November 15th, 2005.

Music from fourth installment of the phenomenal Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features a score by Academy Award-nominated composer Patrick Doyle, best known for his work on Donnie Brasco, Bridget Jones' Diary, Hamlet and Sense And Sensibility. Doyle takes over musical duties from John Williams, who composed the music for the last three Harry Potter films, which together were nominated for three Grammy Awards and two Oscars and sold more than a million copies worldwide. Also available as a digital download, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack includes liner notes from the film's director Mike Newell.

The album also features three new original songs, two of which were written by acclaimed recording artist Jarvis Cocker and the third co-written by Cocker and Jason Buckle. The tracks -- “Do The Hippogriff,” “Magic Works” and “This Is The Night” -- are performed by Jarvis Cocker, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway, Steve Claydon, Steve Mackey and Jason Buckle.

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire continues author J.K. Rowling's immensely popular Harry Potter novel series with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) being selected to compete in the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, which pits him against older and more experienced students from Hogwarts and two rival European wizarding schools. Meanwhile, supporters of Harry's nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), send a shockwave of fear throughout the wizard community when their Dark Mark scorches the sky at the Quidditch World Cup, signaling Voldemort's return to power. But for Harry, this is not the only harrowing news causing him anxiety - he still has yet to find a date for Hogwarts' Yule Ball dance.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films production of a Mike Newell film, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Timothy Spall. Directed by Mike Newell, the film is produced by David Heyman from a screenplay by Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling. The executive producers are David Barron and Tanya Seghatchian. The director of photography is Roger Pratt, BSC; the production designer is Stuart Craig; the editor is Mick Audsley; the co-producer is Peter MacDonald; the costume designer is Jany Temime; Hedwig’s Theme is composed by John Williams; and the music is by Patrick Doyle.

Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company, will release the film Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, on November 18, 2005 in the United States.