Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I finally got to see this movie!!  For me, it lived up to my expectations.  Movies based on books, especially books I love usually don’t live up to my expectations, but I’ve learned something about the Harry Potter series.  You can’t expect it to be like the books.  The books are great but they are long and though I wouldn’t mind a 5 hour movie based exactly on the book, I know it’s not something that can be done.  The movie was good and lived up to my expectations.

The kids have grown as actors.  They really have.  They are amazing in their roles.  I can’t imagine anyone else in those roles so I really do hope they hang in there and do all 7 movies.  The special effects in the movie were pretty amazing.  Again, I’m usually one of those movie viewers who forgets about the special effects and gets lost in the world created for me.  It wasn’t until I caught a special on A&E about this movie that I actually got to see how much of it was computer generated and added in later.  They did a good job.

So, the things I liked about the movie.  I liked that it was darker because the book was darker and I think it deserved it’s PG13 rating.  I definitely wouldn’t take little kids to see this one.  I liked RobertPattinson as Cedric.  What a total cutie!!  I liked the look and feel of the whole movie and I liked the way it tried to stay as true to the book as it could and the small changes they had to make, fit in seemlessly in my opinion.  The Yule Ball was done great and I loved the dialogue between Ron and Hermione.  I never got Harry and Hermione "shippers" (by the way, I hate that word for some reason) until this movie.  I can see how the chemistry between Daniel and Emma can be mistaken for chemistry between the two charcters that we all know aren’t going to end up together in the end of the series.  The tasks were also done really well.  They captured what I had imagined in my mind.  My favorite was definitely the second task under water.  I loved that there was more Fred and George in this one!  They were hilarious!  Neville was also amazing in this movie!  His dancing…LOL!  Katie Leung as Cho was great…and so pretty!  Great casting.  I’m not a huge fan of Cho in the books, but I liked her in this movie and am looking forward to more of her in the next one.  The Patil twins were cute.  I wonder what made the director decide to dress them in ethnic clothes for the Yule Ball.  They kinda stood out in the crowd.  Ralph Fiennes as Voldermort was just amazing! It was everything and more of what I expected from that scene.  It really did freak me out.  I liked that whole scene between Voldy and Harry!  It was very well done.  Cedric’s murder was done perfectly and it truly made me cry when Harry brought him back and cried over his body.  If I cried for Cedric, I can only imagine how I will feel in the next two movies.  Mad Eye Moody was kinda cool.  But his eye wasn’t what I expected.  I didnt’ like the way it was attached to his face.  From the books, I imagined that it was an eye he could pop into his own socket and not have something around his head to hold it in.  I liked that there was less Draco and Snape.  Yes, I’m still holding a grudge after reading Half-blood Prince.  I also don’t have any problems distinguishing between Alan Rickman and Snape.  The former, I adore, the latter, I hate with the passion of a thousand suns!

And the things I didn’t like.  I dont’ think I will ever get used to this Dumbledore.  I miss Richard Harris and I always will.  Michael Gambon just isn’t Dubledore to me.  He’s too harsh.  He’s too excitable.  Richard Harris had a way of playing Dumbledore where it felt like he was the wisest man in the world.  He had a tinkle in his eye that made me think that there was so much more to him.  Michael Gambon just doesn’t have that.  I wasn’t crazy about some of the casting.  Fleur was supposed to be part Veela and incredibly beautiful.  Clemence Poesy just wasn’t that beautiful.  And Krum?  Ehhh…he was alright.  He looked too old for the group and I didn’t like how little he was in it, especially with Hermione.  What was the point of Rita Skeeter?  They could have left her out and still had a good movie since they really didn’t tell her whole story.  Where was Charlie Weasley?  I hated that they had to cut him out.  I hated that there was hardly any Sirius!!  I hated that they left out the whole story of the house elves but I understood why they had to. 

Each of the Harry Potter movies is better than the last.  I hope that sticks and if it does, then I can only imagine how awesome the next one is going to be especially since it’s also my second favorite book.  I would totally recommend this to Harry Potter fans but just keep an open mind and see this as a movie.  It doesn’t compare to the book of course.