Thursday, November 17, 2005
Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire Review
Okay, I'm supposed to be studying, but instead I thought I should just blog about the latest Harry Potter movie.
The whole journey started when I won four tickets to the Malaysian Premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (GoF). I woke up on that Thursday in a daze, switch on the radio and the cue to call came on at that time. So with a shrug I trudged downstairs, picked up the phone and called, and got through on the first try. (You must be the fifth caller thru.)
DJ: So, you must be a big fan of Harry Potter?
Me: Erm... not really.
DJ: *stun for a minute* Oh... but you want to see the movie?
Me: Yup.
DJ: And so you must answer this question bla bla bla...
Me: Sure.
DJ: Which school Viktor Krum came from?
Me: Durmstrang.
DJ: Good... bla bla bla bla... And since you called during the Bonus Hour you get an exclusive Harry Potter notebook.
Me: Sure.
DJ: And now to win a replica of the triwizard cup, you have to create a spell.
Me: Erm... mammary bigulus.
It's blardy 10 in the morning. I was still in a daze. I sounded stiff and sleepy on radio. The first thing that came to my mind was big breast. Well, if the spell exist, Harry can use it on Ginny. (I resent that coupling)
After much publicising of the tickets I wanted to give away (be the fifth commentor through on the previous post and you would have won that tic but no one did), four people finally went for the premier.
1. Me
2. Richard
3. YeePei
4. Grace
Richard: The three of you together seemed very familiar.
So after lecture, we went to MidValley, where we got our tickets (which is so so cool) and had dinner, went bookshopping before entering the cinema where they checked our bags and confiscate our handphones before letting us in.
Girl in MPH: Mana dia dapat buku itu ah? (refering to the notebook I was holding)
157 minutes later, I emerged from the cinema dully UNimpressed. Sheesh.
Yee Pei: The movie is good, but not good.
To have Quidditch World Cup erased from the movie is a crime,
TO spoil the Triwizard Tournament is a bigger crime!!!
You guys should have read the book by now (if you haven't read it, I don't know you guys), so spoilers for the movie is no spoiler at all. But best I reserve so discretion and warn you guys.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Go NO further if you are not prepared for the consequences.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
And for those who wants to forego the warning, this review is my personal one and may not cater to you. (I am a severe critic when it comes to movies that came from books). I hated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a lot of people did. I don't really like the latest movie, but hell, I never did like the movie series. It is too overly franchised and this is exploited by the movie.
The movie started exactly like the book. (Anticipation now high). After the whole first chapter (plus some changes in scenes), the screen jumped swiftly to Harry Potter in the burrow and from there, rolled downwards, jumped up a bit and then continued downwards.
The first part of the movie was draggy, nothing important was happening, but somehow it took up so much time with irrelevant scenes.
After first 20 minutes - YeeP: I feel like sleeping.
Towards the end (the awe-spiring third task), the scenes began to rush through. It's like how you do an exam, you lag at the beginning and when the time's almost up, you rush through your work and in the end screwed it up real bad.
Scenes are changed, suspenses built but not delivered. Interesting scenes were taken away, more interesting scenes changed beyond recognition. Scenes that are not really important are placed in, scenes not from the book were added.
Let's go bit by bit, shall we?
BIG PICTURE
Somehow Hogwarts had changed from the first movie. Remember I complained about big picture and minor details in my POA review. Well, Mike managed to deliver this quite nicely. We get a lovely sight of the empty Gryffindor common room, we have a lovely view of the Owlery. But Hogwarts seemed to have changed somehow. The land seemed really different from the previous movies, where suddenly there are more waterfalls and bigger lakes and higher mountains. Maybe I'm just too minute.
But again I feel Mike put in some relevant scenes (like the overdramatic fight between Harry and the Dragon) where better could have been done. The 1st task seemed to take up more screentime than the more important 3rd task. Actually other than that, I can't think of anything else. Haha...
Ah yes, the dancing class by Mconagall. Funny, but irrelevant.
Bumbling, babbling bunch of babboons. (Try saying that 5 times)
But taking away scenes is the one that I cannot forgive him for.
EXPECTATIONS DASHED
1. Quidditch World Cup
What you saw in the trailer is you get of the World Cup. I went in expecting so see Krum prowess on the broomstick. But what I get is just his boasting. They built up all this hype, the screaming, the huge stadium, the players swooping into the stadium. And I was there in my seat, waiting for the game to begin and when Crouch declared the game on, it is over. What the FUCK!!!!
Yup, that's it, no game was played. It was like having a sweet removed from your mouth just as you were getting to the good part. How we know the Irish won the world cup? By reading the book and listening to the dialogues of in between.
2. Learning spells to use and using em.
Come one man, Hogwarts is a school of magic. And I haven't learn any spells lately. In the task, only 3 different spells were used. Come on, there is a whole range of spells to use. And the best you can come up with is Reducto?
3. 1st Task
You seriously don't know how the other champions did if you did not read the book. Because it just showed Harry's trial and there is no annoucement or explanation on how the others did. I expected to at least see the other champions trying to fight off their dragons, but ilek, nilch, nothing.
4. The 3rd Task
What do you guys know about the 3rd task? It's going through a maze and getting the Triwizard cup in the centre. Never mind that the maze is a huge (in the book it's only the size of the Quidditch Field), the only scary thing in it is hedges that closes up on you and grabs you and rolled you up. Where is the sphinx? Where are the monsters and the Boggart!!! Sheesh! There was just a lot alot of running and huffing and panting and lots and lots of trees trying to kill our Champions.
5. Rita Skeeter
Where is the nosy little bitch when we wanted her. She was only present in the movie two times before the first task and after that, no more... no sign of her nor that crazy quill of hers. Nothing at all. What the hell??? I was looking forward to seeing her smearing Hermy's name, to seeing Hermy catching her in bug form. But nothing, ilek, nilch.
6. The ressurection of Voldermort.
This fell short so badly. Again, so much suspense was built. The return of the Death Eaters, the big showdown between Voldermort and Potter. I expected the Death Eaters to come crawling back to the Dark Lord, trembling with fear and awe. But sorry, I don't get that feeling of awe and fear that was supposed to have. The Dark Lord was too sneering and insulting to exude much awe. The only scary thing he did was a few hand movements that somehow frightened the Death Eaters (strange). And the big showdown? Voldermort cast TWO death curse. Harry countered with ONE spell before the whole light sabre thing happened. Where was the huge battle? Nilch, ilek, nothing.
7. Others
No Snuffles, no Dementors coming in to kill Barty Crouch Jr. Where are the House Elves and SPEW?
CHARACTER'S PORTRAYAL
What can I say?
The Trio
I'm so tired of reviewing about them. Harry and Ron are fine, nothing to say. But Hermione, that's a different story.
Richard: Her estrogen level has increased.
She was too pretty to start with. The real Hermy should have bushy hair and bucktooth. And only during the ball does she become beautiful. Especially the part where she walks down the stairway and everyone turned to see and gawk and proclaimed that she is beautiful, I saw no difference other than she was wearing a dress.
Cho Chang
Katie Leung as Cho Chang is stiff. Ok, I tot she was Singaporean. Apparently I'm wrong. Born bred in Scotland, she still have the typical non-European accent. (It sounded fake to me). But she can't act, seriously. Thank God she had little screentime.
Viktor Krum
The real Krum has a huge nose like a bird and is bowlegged and the only thing he is good for is being on the broomstick. But the movie Viktor Krum, he is hot, hot, hot. He is so macho and good looking. I don't usually go head over heels for characters on movies, but Stanislav Ianevski is different. He is hot.
Fleur Delacour
She was different from what I've imagined from the book. From the book, she was some giggly girl who prances around and disses everyone else around her. But in this movie, she was an elegant Champion who is upright and stiff and elegant at the same time. But too bad she has too little screen time and with the whole sexist outlook where the girl-champion seemed to be losing out to the guys, it is too bad.
Cedric Diggory
The all around good guy. I found him irritating, but he's ok afterall.
Mad-Eye Moody
Excellent protrayal of a raving psychopath. But he was still not how I imagined him. He was not grumpy enough and he was too fat. Bleah.
Dumbledore
The new Dumbledore seemed more human and less invincible as he was before. Personally I like him better when he seemed more invincible and his humour are more subtle, not like this. But I can't complain. And I won't.
Sirius Black
The only protrayal that he had was being embers of a dying fire. I expected his whole face to emerge from the fireflames, not some CG animations. Sheesh.
Voldermort
I love Ralph Finnes, but his acting of the Voldermort was seriously layered with alot alot of makeup. And he seemed pathetic. But after sometime, he was not so bad.
COOL HIGHLIGHTS that I like
1. The Entrance of the foreign students - love it.
2. The Yule Ball - interestingly done.
Seriously, I can't think of any other thing. Even the DADA class fell short.
CONCLUSION?
The damn movie which left me unsatisfied (quote: like after sex with a misinformed labrador), which I was so hyped up about. They fail to provide the connection that would bring this movie forward to the fifth (ie Barty Crouch wasn't killed before he revealed that Voldermort is back). If you haven't read the book, you won't understand what the hell is happening.
The only cool thing about that movie is the cool tickets I've won. It is super cool with 3D features and all!! Woohoo!!
Our advice to the future audiences:
1. Read the book before you enter. But when you enter the cinema, forget about the book.
2. Don't have high expectations.
3. Look at the big picture - don't obsess over the minutiae.
4. Remember that they are stuffing 700 over pages of a book into 157 minutes.
5. It is better than the 3rd movie, best among the four, but still below expectations.
6. It's not worth paying RM30 for the premier tickets, but having free tickets is not bad.
Any tortures not involving pain, humiliation, or stickiness?
- Guybrush Threepwood, Curse of Monkey Island
<< Home