Harry Potter 4...

Will Vincent

Will Vincent

Ok, I'll admit, I'm a big Harry Potter fan.. I have audio versions of all the books, that I listen to regularly while I drive for work. So I was needless to say, looking forward to the newest installment in the series of films.

Granted, yes, the book generally is better than the film, 99% of the time no matter what film we're talking about. However, that aspect aside, this latest installment was highly disappointing. If you enjoyed the first three I'll be surprised if you enjoy this one.
  • Characters were played drastically different than previously
  • The entire thing was overly rushed (which, yes there was a lot of material to cover, but it could have been done better)
  • It seemed to be more a show of what can be done with CG than about story
I could go on of course, but I try not to sound too much like alot of the kids who have posted on the movie sites (yahoo & moviefone, etc) about their outrage.

One of the things that really bugged me was that it felt like watching a Michael Bay film, lots of "uber-tight shaking shots" to create tension and whatnot.. The only thing wrong with this is that most Michael Bay films have a bit more substance to their story.. and (in my opinion) that's definately saying a lot.
 
Oh dear.

I love Harry and friends too, and was really looking forward to seeing this. I have heard many good things about the movie, particularly the 'teenage angst' of dealing with girsl- was anticipating seeing Harry, Ron and Hermoine coming to terms with being adolescents. That was a part of the book that resonated for me- Ron's reaction to Hermoine scoring the biggest date of all.

Also anticipating Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. Couldn't have thought of a better actor to embody that character in film.

Was there anything you did like?

I plan to see it this coming week.
 
shoot for hitting it at a matinee if you can, save the extra couple bucks. I dunno, it just didn't seem like it was paced right, and it felt incomplete, as there was SO much left out from the book. I guess you have to not think about the book at all when you see it and then it might be ok, but man it was disappointing.

The part of the book you mentioned about the coming to terms with adolescence... it's really not there. Ron being upset at Harry for being in the cup, that's there.. sort of, and that's about it.. I dunno, see it, you'll know what I mean. It's just... not right.
 
Loved teh film but I agree it was messy. In fact all four films are messy with plots that go nowhere followed by the rushed 'here's teh important bit' ending. Anyone else notice that the film didn't really end either it just stopped. Okay the dark lord is loose. Oh, alright lets go home!

Great FX and a superb support cast that made the kids look crap!

Phil Hobden
-- Modern Life?--
 
The first three didn't stray nearly as far from the story as this one though.. It was almost like the majority of the cast was just small cameo parts. Oh well, what do you do. ;)
 
Never read the books, I really don't have time to dig into books at this point in my life (or the past 10 years for that matter). I also don't like watching movies made from books as books can describe things that cannot ever transition to the screen...HP is one of those worlds. Each reader of those books saw something slightly different in their head to make it fit into their perception of reality. In a movie, you are presented a reality and asked to buy into it. Filmmakers are also so restricted by time (esp. kid's films) that there is no way they can focus on the story the way they should to do it justice. I never enter a theater for a movie like this expecting to see the book translated to screen...I merely expect a movie based loosely on the works by that author. I am seldom disappointed. I also realize with this one that there are still 2 more movies to go in the series.
 
i say that all of the scenes were cut WAY too short and ron looks like he's 17

all in all, i was also disappointed. This film is good, but...
 
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