Goblet of Fire...
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 7:12 pm
Just like last time--no, it's not a "horror" movie, but watch the climax and tell me with a straight face that it's not.
This may be the best of the series to date, no joke. Mike Newell has a perfect grasp of the material--the wonder, the awkwardness, and the best-timed comedy relief I've yet seen here (hell, even Professor SNAPE gets a big laugh).
Don't know if you've read the book or not--but you probably heard that the book is one HUGE honking volume, and that they originally toyed with the idea of making TWO movies out of it. But they did the right thing and found the best way to faithfully condense the book (the hugest deal is the complete elimination of the "elf rights" subplot, but other than that, all the high points are accurately hit).
And as disturbing as the climactic chapters of the book were, the film adaptation doesn't shy away one bit--yep, the PG-13 is earned fair and square (which is still a shock to a lot of people who expect the series to remain strictly "family" level). There is some genuinely scary business (not to mention creepy makeup effects), and unflinching depictions of horror, loss and grief as we wind up this installment.
Over two-and-a-half hours long, but my interest didn't flag for a second: nor did knowing the story ahead of time cause me to become restless (Newell accurately points out that he's the first to throw in some material that did NOT come from the book, based on his British schoolboy experiences).
The series remains in good hands, but it's a crapshoot to see if the cast can maintain their appearance and only visibly age three years in the time it will take to do the last three movies (the final story of which hasn't even been WRITTEN yet). It will undoubtedly hurt things to pull a cast switch at this point--but the stories and their screen handling have been a perfect four-for-four so far. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Call me soft if you must. This one comes highly recommended.
This may be the best of the series to date, no joke. Mike Newell has a perfect grasp of the material--the wonder, the awkwardness, and the best-timed comedy relief I've yet seen here (hell, even Professor SNAPE gets a big laugh).
Don't know if you've read the book or not--but you probably heard that the book is one HUGE honking volume, and that they originally toyed with the idea of making TWO movies out of it. But they did the right thing and found the best way to faithfully condense the book (the hugest deal is the complete elimination of the "elf rights" subplot, but other than that, all the high points are accurately hit).
And as disturbing as the climactic chapters of the book were, the film adaptation doesn't shy away one bit--yep, the PG-13 is earned fair and square (which is still a shock to a lot of people who expect the series to remain strictly "family" level). There is some genuinely scary business (not to mention creepy makeup effects), and unflinching depictions of horror, loss and grief as we wind up this installment.
Over two-and-a-half hours long, but my interest didn't flag for a second: nor did knowing the story ahead of time cause me to become restless (Newell accurately points out that he's the first to throw in some material that did NOT come from the book, based on his British schoolboy experiences).
The series remains in good hands, but it's a crapshoot to see if the cast can maintain their appearance and only visibly age three years in the time it will take to do the last three movies (the final story of which hasn't even been WRITTEN yet). It will undoubtedly hurt things to pull a cast switch at this point--but the stories and their screen handling have been a perfect four-for-four so far. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Call me soft if you must. This one comes highly recommended.