GoF thoughts

[exsequar]

Before I read any more GoF reviews, I want to get down my own thoughts so they are uninfluenced.


In terms of a general impression - it felt rushed and lacking emotional depth or resonance. Every single scene was important, like, vital, so you never ever got to take a breath. It was all very overwhelming. We went directly from them being on the train to the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people arriving - for some reason that felt like the most bizarre leap. I don't know - it just felt like snippets all mushed together, with no connecting tissue. Unlike PoA, which had a beautiful pace.

So yes. I much prefer PoA. That might change after repeated viewings of GoF, and there are definitely pieces of GoF that I am in LOVE with and am so glad they are on film :D So, in bullet form:

cedric totally propositioned Harry when he told him about the bathroom. It was SO ADORABLE. I squeed, I'll admit it. OTP, baby.

cedric himself! He just... SMILED all the time, and I melted whenever he did. The only thing was that he didn't seem like the book character at all - in the book, he's the goody-two-shoes, the perfect guy, whereas in the movie he's more the "cool" one... I imagine he'd have a motorcycle, or something, if this was normal high school. You know girls are totally all over him. He's just so... joyful all the time. Good god, I love him. RIP :(

Neville, awwwww. His pain when Moody was doing the cruciatus on the strange bug thing (not really a spider!) was so touching. And him saving Harry's ass was awesome. Aw. Adorable. And Neville/Ginny=♥!! She totally works with him better than Harry. Who didn't so much as glance in her direction once, thank you very much.

Harry/Hermione!!!!!!!! I know this is where I lose most people, but OMG. SO GREAT. She kissed his head!!! She never gave up a chance to touch him for ANY reason. She just... god, she's going to be sick she's worrying about him so much. It's adorable. Ack. My ship owns everything, and I still love it no matter what.

Hermione herself!! I was afraid she wasn't going to be as awesome as in PoA, and true she didn't kick as much ass, but that's okay - I am still madly in love with her (and Emma). Emma did an amazing job, she just keeps getting better and better. The scene after the Yule Ball, when she fights with Ron and collapses on the stairs - perfect. Her emotion was just spot on and so heartbreaking. (I don't know about you all, but I wouldn't like any guy that would do that to me. Turn me into that wreck. But ANYway.) Yay Hermione. *huggles her* Also, when George and Fred were wrestling, and she opened her book? I was like, That is SO what I would do :D:D And Hermione and Viktor dancing to the Weird Sisters = LOVE.

That dragon really beat up those tiles a lot. Did he forget he has wings?

The maze was.... boring. In the book, it's fascinating because it's got all sorts of things, with Aragog and the sphinx and the world turning upside down, and it's just SO cool. But in the movie it's just a maze, with some malevolent greenery. Meh. More Harry/cedric goodness though ^_^

cedric's death was... ouch. But moreso was Harry's reaction, just how he wouldn't leave the body.. that really tugged at my heartstrings, and that's when I really started to cry.

Voldmort? Not scary. I kept seeing Ralph Fiennes in there, and he's just.. not a scary looking guy. He should have had a hood on, because being able to closely examing the makeup job they did on him just detracted from the whole effect. Not cool.

Lily looks SO much like the lower school art teacher back home who I worked for in high school, it's ridiculous. Also, weren't the Potters really young when they had Harry? Like, early 20s? Those people don't look that young. OMG I cant wait to see how they do the flashback!!!!!! *flail* Sirius better be fucking GORGEOUS, and he better stare at Remus more than friends should :D

Speaking of Sirius, the face in the fire thing = wtf. W. T. F. That is all.

Barty crouch Jr was creepy with the whole tongue flicking out thing o.O

I just realized - no Ludo Bagman! That's sad.

The Quidditch cup was far too short. It was like... here are the teams! Aaaand.. it's over, the end. Bah.

Why did the ceiling of the Great Hall suddenly freak out? I don't get it.

I don't like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Sorry, I just don't.

Did I mention Harry/cedric OTP?? Icons people, icons!!!

Draco's character is totally getting shafted. Like, he had his one scene, but they never even show his reactions to anything else.

I LOVE cho's accent. It's adorable. She sounded just like Diane from Trainspotting. And her dress at the Yule ball was beautiful. She wasn't all that special as a person, but that might be because she was 0.5 dimensional. Meh. I wish this movie had been four hours long. I want to reread the book to recapture the magic of it.

Why were Hagrid, Harry, Ron and Hermione walking through the woods after the second task? I don't get it.

Ron, Hermione and the rest of the people trapped underwater looked *so* fake. That was pretty bad :P What, the actors couldn't float there? Bah.

Ginny is so pointless.

McGonagall is awesome. I love her greatly :D

Umm, I think I'm about bullet-pointed out.


So, to sum up: it's a good movie, exciting and all that, but I far prefer the gritty emotional realism of PoA.

Comments

[hermioneluna.livejournal.com]

In Ron's defense, he didn't reduce her to tears in the books. She was stronger than that. I'm with you on the Fire!Sirius thing. But at least he didn't call Harry "The-Boy-Who-Lived" cause that would have been so wrong. And I don't understand why they were all just marching through the woods either. My guess is that it's explained in a scene that was cut. Check out my post in my LJ. I had a few questions and since you don't share them, you might know the answer.

What did you think of Moaning Myrtle.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Moaning Myrtle just weirded me out! She's so perverted and creepy. I didn't like her in cos either.. her high pitched sounds annoy the hell out of me. Wherefore do you ask?

[hermioneluna.livejournal.com]

Just wondering. You didn't mention her and I've heard more about her than I have some other parts of the movie.

[macaroni1213.livejournal.com]

I agree - H/HR does own. By ten billion times. I agree with the majority of your comments. One thing I did like about the maze was its psychological impact on the champions. It was kinda subtle, but I loved the way it for a minute got the better of Cedric and Harry, until they came to their senses after Cedric was almost eaten (poor Fleur...).

[flamingkitten.livejournal.com]

i definitely agree about the movie. they missed out on so much! i really wanted to see the part with the sphinx, i love how she described the androgynous-ness of it in the book and how it was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. and my favorite part was the world cup in the book, i wish they had focused more on it!

they didn't explain a whole lot, like the fact that it was neville's parents under the cruciatus curse. it was only when karkaroff mentioned something about the longbottoms in his testimony and most people wouldn't have catched that if you hadn't read the book before. i LOVED viktor krum. so dashing and so hot, haha. although it felt kinda weird that he was so much older than hermione and blowing her kisses and stuff. i actually thought the scene after the yule-ball was too over-acted. i definitely preferred hermione in the last movie. i also thought that last movie had better cinematography. voldemort definitely wasn't scary and repulsive and described. oh and they didn't explain that barty crouch jr. murdered his father. and draco's part was to tiny! poor tom felton. although his part in book 6 is pretty huge so i guess that makes up for it.

all in all still a GREAT movie compared to normal movies but not great for harry potter movies in general.

[flamingkitten.livejournal.com]

whoops i meant *as described and *so tiny.

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

"In terms of a general impression - it felt rushed and lacking emotional depth or resonance. Every single scene was important, like, vital, so you never ever got to take a breath. It was all very overwhelming. We went directly from them being on the train to the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people arriving - for some reason that felt like the most bizarre leap."

Yeah, I agree. I got pretty confused when they switched from the train to the Beauxbatons arrival. My friend next to me (a Potter FAN) even whispered to me, "What is this??-- oh..." I thought the emotion was good in it, though. It didn't get a chance to fully shine like in the books, but I felt for the characters the most I ever have in this movie.

"cedric totally propositioned Harry when he told him about the bathroom. It was SO ADORABLE. I squeed, I'll admit it. OTP, baby."

LOL yeah, really. I was wondering why I was suddenly felt really jealous of Harry... ;)

"His pain when Moody was doing the cruciatus on the strange bug thing (not really a spider!) was so touching."

YES! I was SO happy that was in there, cause it could've easily been one of those sub-plots they didn't pay much mind to. I'm so happy Neville [and the twins] got more screen time in this one. And Neville/Ginny IS LOVE.

"Harry/Hermione!!!!!!!! I know this is where I lose most people, but OMG."

NOT I! =D *reads on*

"She kissed his head!!! She never gave up a chance to touch him for ANY reason. She just... god, she's going to be sick she's worrying about him so much. It's adorable. Ack. My ship owns everything, and I still love it no matter what."

Ditto ditto DITTO. =D I love our OTP so bloody much. <3 And imagine how squee-worthy it'd be if they kept all of the H/Hr scenes/shots in it?? Hooooooo baby...

"And Hermione and Viktor dancing to the Weird Sisters = LOVE."

Hee, Hermione/Krum are so cute. I loved that bit too.

"That dragon really beat up those tiles a lot. Did he forget he has wings?"

XD my friends and I were thinking the same thing. What a waste of wings.

"cedric's death was... ouch. But moreso was Harry's reaction, just how he wouldn't leave the body.. that really tugged at my heartstrings, and that's when I really started to cry."

Totally agree. I started to get misty as soon as they got back to the school cause I just knew it was gonna be bad. And then Fleur screaming and Amos running down from the crowd... v_v

"Voldmort? Not scary. I kept seeing Ralph Fiennes in there, and he's just.. not a scary looking guy."

Yeah, I didn't find him half as scary as in the books, maybe just because like you said, THERE HE WAS. Even when picturing Voldemort in his new body, there was always an element of the unseen/unknown that frightened the crap out of me.

"Speaking of Sirius, the face in the fire thing = wtf. W. T. F. That is all."

I thought it was kinda cool. Not how I'd pictured it, but they get points for creativity. *shrug*

I agree that Michael Gambon sucks, Ginny is pointless and the QWC was way too short. But despite that, the movie owned. =D

[humdrumtown.livejournal.com]

PoA made me sleepy in parts. I liked that this movie had momentum.

I'm glad someone else though Cho sounded like Diane. I said to my friend "That is the most Scottish sounding girl I've ever heard since Trainspotting!"

I really liked Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, which I think has to do with the fact that he has a voice for evil, lol. He is a little to hot to be covered up with that make-up job. Still, I prefer him over a lot of Brits for the role.

OMG So with you on the Cedric/Harry thing. Me and my friend Adam were screaming "Slash!" everytime we saw them.

McGonagall is fucking awesome. Amen.

[humdrumtown.livejournal.com]

And to add on with something I disagree with.

Harry/Hermione.

Over my dead body, lol. My dead and slash-pervy body. :-P

I know, I know! Other people see it, hell I see it. I just prefer not to acknowledge it. :-D Tee hee.