Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Likes:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(As usual, ignore the date. Or rather add 6 years.)

1. They did an amazing job of deciding what to cut out and leave in, and the way they tied things together to smooth over the omissions. Like how Neville gave Harry the gillyweed instead of Dobby. I wish they had included certain scenes, but overall it was great considering the book is 700 pages long. Which would make for a 15-hour movie or something.

2. Ralph Fiennes rocks. I thought Lord Voldemort would be more scary but on further reflection, he's supposed to look human yet not human so that fits.

3. The tournament scenes were amazing. The special effects were better than anything I could have imagined. The scene with the Death Eaters at the World Cup was freaky as hell.

4. The movie was, as always, well cast with a few exceptions. I also liked the fact that the patil twins and Cho Chang wore traditional clothes as their formal dresses. That was a nice touch.

5. The entire movie was great. People who read the book AND people who haven't read the book can appreciate the movie. That happens rarely. Most of the time, the movie translation is almost painful.

Dislikes:
(They look worse than they actually are.)

1. My friend Pete IM-ed me this morning to say he didn't like the new Dumbledore being very animated and I agree. It especially sticks out during his speech about Cedric Diggory, that moment was supposed to be very somber and ominous.

2. Hermione acts like an airhead over Viktor Krum in the movie. This is a far cry from her behavior in the book, where he's the one who follows her around and even steps up to Harry out of jealousy. Any instance of a brainy character like Hermione being an airhead is always going to be annoying.

3. Cedric Diggory is supposed to be HOT. They should have saved the guy who played Oliver Wood for the role of Cedric Diggory. Even the guy who plays Viktor Krum is better looking and he's supposed to resemble a bird of prey. Fleur Delacour is also supposed to be gorgeous. She's part veela for God's sake. This chick looked like Clare Danes. Not exactly veela material.

4. They didn't show the World Cup, not even a minute of it. None of the four movies so far has enough Quidditch. Quidditch is important dammit.

5. The last 10 minutes of the movie were blah. They should have included the part in the book when Minister Fudge argues with Dumbledore over Barty Crouch being given the Dementor's Kiss. And the part when Harry gives Fred and George his Triwizard winnings. And Sirius is supposed to be there. The movie is 2 1/2 hours long. What's 5 more minutes.

Again, overall, I was a big fan of this movie. Looking forward to owning the DVD. And perhaps talking someone into seeing it with me in an IMAX theatre.