My GoF Review

[Phyllis]

I finally saw the GoF movie for the first time today and have to 
completely agree with everyone who has complained about the pace.  I 
got the impression that the moviemakers felt compelled to squeeze 
almost the entirety of the 600+ page book into two and a half hours, 
and the whole thing felt extremely rushed as a result.  I also 
thought that if I hadn't read the book, I would have been lost (my 
son, who hasn't read the book, was asking me basic questions 
afterward such as "Who was the old man in the beginning?" and "Why 
did the wands connect?"). 

Much like the Shrieking Shack scene in PoA, I thought the way they 
rushed the scene where the fake Moody turns back into Barty Jr., and 
the short Harry-Dumbledore debriefing scene at the end wound up 
leaving out a lot of crucial information - where was the look of 
triumph?  Where was Fawkes?  Do non-readers remember that Voldemort 
is named Tom Riddle after his father?  Why weren't we told that the  
house in Harry's "dream" was the Riddle House?  Why didn't they 
explain that the wands were twins and that's why they connected?  Why 
have Barty Jr. in the Riddle House in the beginning and not explain 
how he escaped from Azkaban (especially after taking the time to 
throw a potion that was never stated to be Veritaserum down his 
throat)?  Why bother to show Hagrid and Maxime talking intimately if 
we're not going to learn they're both part-giants?  Why were there no 
obstacles in the maze?  And on, and on ...  yet they spent screen 
time that could have been used to explain some of the basics by 
adding that scene about learning to dance (which, while neat to see 
that it was filmed in the Bodlein Library's Divinity School in Oxford 
that I visited this past summer, wasn't necessary).  And all of the 
time that was wasted while Harry chased the dragon - yuck!  Why not 
spend some of that showing how Harry isn't Superman and has to 
struggle to learn how to use the summoning charm. 
 
I also agree that the actor who played Amos Diggory was excellent.  I 
thought they way they showed Amos' reaction to Cedric's death was 
very moving, and I actually liked that portrayal better than the 
chaos in the book when Harry returns with Cedric's body, although I 
think the book's version is probably more realistic that having the 
students stand in silence while Amos cries. 

I loved the QWC stadium (it truly looked as enormous as it was 
supposed to), but after all the time spent getting them there, they 
didn't show any of the game! And then it's never explained why the 
Hogwarts students won't be playing Quidditch that year.  And why 
couldn't Krum have talked more?  Did Hermione really need to intimate 
that she and Krum spend all of their time in non-verbal pursuits?

I also liked the way Ralph Fiennes portrayed Voldemort, although his 
eyes needed to be red and I would have preferred to see him hooded 
rather than bald (the slit-like nostrils were very well done, 
though).  Harry needed to be gagged in the graveyard scene, though, 
and the way it was rushed left a lot of the dramatic tension out of 
the scene.  It all happened so fast, it wasn't at all clear to me 
that the "shades" of Voldemort's past victims were actually emerging 
from his wand - they just seemed to appear from nowhere.  And why, oh 
why, does Harry have to say "Have it your way" - that line reminded 
me of the old Burger King commercials!  

To me, the fundamental flaw with all of the films is that they fail 
to tell the story from Harry's perspective.  I think this could be 
easily done - show some scenes from Harry's eyes; "hear" him thinking 
what he's feeling, etc.  Showing Harry's perspective - his fears and 
the way in which he decides how to deal with his fears - would have 
helped to create more tension during the 3 tasks and in the graveyard 
scene, IMO.

I still loved the movie, though.  And I didn't mind missing the 
elves, the skrewts or Bagman.

Just my two knuts :)

~Phyllis