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kjpepperThree last Goblet of my Ass notes and then I'll shut up. Really.
First off, I did really like the movie. What they got right, they got very right, and the visuals were quite stunning. However I did have problems with three aspects of the movie, which felt minor last night, but as I thought about it more, realized they really bothered me. Granted some of this could possibly not have been helped owing to having to get such a huge book down to a three hour runtime, but it kinda makes me vainly wish thath they might have shot enough for a LOTR style extended edition DVD, cause the movie really could have used an extra hour of run time.
Anyway, three things.
1) Rita Skeeter. She was basically reduced to two joke comic relief, and then she more or less just... disappeared. In the book, her subplot was a lot darker, and her articles were far more malevolent in their attempts to discredit Harry, and there was a whole bit where Hermione figures out how Rita manages to be privy to everyone's private conversations and also figures out how to stop her. Also I felt that her purpose in the the book was to illustrate that Harry's living mythos is crumbling even before Voldemort rises, and to make it more apparent that what's allowed him to coast thus far - the magic in his scar, and his own legendary reputation - were no longer enough to protect him. I feel like if her part was going to be so reduced as to be pretty much extraneous, she should have been cut entirely.
2) Sirius. Basically reduced to the point where they should really have cut him too, but in a way I'm more bothered by his reduction than Rita's. In Goblet of Fire, the connection between Harry and Sirius, through their various communications, deepens to almost a father-son bond, something that's going to have major resonance in the next part of the story, because Sirius becomes one of the last grown-ups that Harry can actually count on unquestionably before he has to stand alone. Again, not done justice, and probably should have been cut entirely, rather than just giving Gary Oldman what amounted to a cameo.
3) I really, upon thinking about it, didn't like the tone of the ending. Way too upbeat. Hear me out here. Goblet of Fire is the point in the series where basically everything is turned on its ass. Voldemort comes back, people start dying, the current power structure in the wizarding world is not only threatened but shown to be both corrupt and not nearly as powerful as it thinks it is, and it's starting to become apparent that really no one can protect Harry anymore. There really should have been more of a feeling of utter "oh... shit..." pit of your stomach dread at the end, on the level of German Jews upon the news that Adolf Hitler never actually died, but has come back and reformed the Nazi party. And no, I don't think that's an inappropriate comparison, in the wizarding world, that's what it's supposed to fucking feel like. (BTW - damn, but the Death Eaters aping Klansmen! Wow. Talk about playing on a cultural mistrust of pointy hoods and masks.) Not just an "everything's going to change, isn't it?" "yes, yes it is." "Oh. Well. Write to me?" I mean, even that scene, played a hair differently, with different scoring, could have done the trick. But no... it feels like just another year ending at Hogwarts and despite the death of Cedric (still sad in the movie, but didn't reduce me to bawling like the book did), and the rest of the events at the end of the movie... I don't think they stuck the landing on that one. Eh, Voldemort rises again, but hey, Victor Krum likes Hermione. *shakes head* I think Prisoner of Ass-kebob did a better job with the leading up to much darker things ahead.
That was it. Just had to get that out of my system so I could stop thinking about it. I guess on the whole I feel Cuaron did the best job with the franchise... but the jury's still out on whether I liked this one or Chamber of Secrets best for second. Still worth seeing I think, but it definitely had a few glaring flaws.
First off, I did really like the movie. What they got right, they got very right, and the visuals were quite stunning. However I did have problems with three aspects of the movie, which felt minor last night, but as I thought about it more, realized they really bothered me. Granted some of this could possibly not have been helped owing to having to get such a huge book down to a three hour runtime, but it kinda makes me vainly wish thath they might have shot enough for a LOTR style extended edition DVD, cause the movie really could have used an extra hour of run time.
Anyway, three things.
1) Rita Skeeter. She was basically reduced to two joke comic relief, and then she more or less just... disappeared. In the book, her subplot was a lot darker, and her articles were far more malevolent in their attempts to discredit Harry, and there was a whole bit where Hermione figures out how Rita manages to be privy to everyone's private conversations and also figures out how to stop her. Also I felt that her purpose in the the book was to illustrate that Harry's living mythos is crumbling even before Voldemort rises, and to make it more apparent that what's allowed him to coast thus far - the magic in his scar, and his own legendary reputation - were no longer enough to protect him. I feel like if her part was going to be so reduced as to be pretty much extraneous, she should have been cut entirely.
2) Sirius. Basically reduced to the point where they should really have cut him too, but in a way I'm more bothered by his reduction than Rita's. In Goblet of Fire, the connection between Harry and Sirius, through their various communications, deepens to almost a father-son bond, something that's going to have major resonance in the next part of the story, because Sirius becomes one of the last grown-ups that Harry can actually count on unquestionably before he has to stand alone. Again, not done justice, and probably should have been cut entirely, rather than just giving Gary Oldman what amounted to a cameo.
3) I really, upon thinking about it, didn't like the tone of the ending. Way too upbeat. Hear me out here. Goblet of Fire is the point in the series where basically everything is turned on its ass. Voldemort comes back, people start dying, the current power structure in the wizarding world is not only threatened but shown to be both corrupt and not nearly as powerful as it thinks it is, and it's starting to become apparent that really no one can protect Harry anymore. There really should have been more of a feeling of utter "oh... shit..." pit of your stomach dread at the end, on the level of German Jews upon the news that Adolf Hitler never actually died, but has come back and reformed the Nazi party. And no, I don't think that's an inappropriate comparison, in the wizarding world, that's what it's supposed to fucking feel like. (BTW - damn, but the Death Eaters aping Klansmen! Wow. Talk about playing on a cultural mistrust of pointy hoods and masks.) Not just an "everything's going to change, isn't it?" "yes, yes it is." "Oh. Well. Write to me?" I mean, even that scene, played a hair differently, with different scoring, could have done the trick. But no... it feels like just another year ending at Hogwarts and despite the death of Cedric (still sad in the movie, but didn't reduce me to bawling like the book did), and the rest of the events at the end of the movie... I don't think they stuck the landing on that one. Eh, Voldemort rises again, but hey, Victor Krum likes Hermione. *shakes head* I think Prisoner of Ass-kebob did a better job with the leading up to much darker things ahead.
That was it. Just had to get that out of my system so I could stop thinking about it. I guess on the whole I feel Cuaron did the best job with the franchise... but the jury's still out on whether I liked this one or Chamber of Secrets best for second. Still worth seeing I think, but it definitely had a few glaring flaws.
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Date: 2005-11-21 02:09 pm (UTC)