It took me until Sunday, but I made it out to see the newest Harry Potter film, Goblet of Fire. It was quite enjoyable, but when it was all wrapped up, it had made me realize something about the book itself that I'd never quite articulated in my head:
Goblet of Fire is my least favorite of all the Potter books.
It took seeing it on film for me to figure this out. It suffers from classic "middle of the trilogy" syndrome. Granted, this is a seven-chapter series, not a true trilogy, but Goblet of Fire nevertheless lands right smack in the middle of the saga. And just like a middle chapter, it's all about setting up the conclusion.
The truth is, despite the huge revelation at the end and the boldly dark turn in tone, it seems to me that not much of consequence happens in book four. In distilling down the hefty book into a screenplay, all the bits not key to the narrative (and even a few that some might argue were) had to be stripped away. In the end, you're left with "the Tri-Wizard tournament" as the plot, and when you compare it to Chamber of Secrets or Prisoner of Azkaban, it's pretty flimsy. How J.K. managed to spin 700+ pages out of it seems something of a mystery to me, now that I reflect on it.
Now, I know I must sound quite down on the movie and book after all this, but in truth that's not really the case. The conclusion of Goblet of Fire is really a great one, and well-realized in the movie. There were certainly good emotional notes played in both. And the acting in the film was really quite remarkable, watching many very talented actors really wring a feast out of a few limited scenes. (Hell, Gary Oldman only appears in the movie in CG form.)
Still, I believe Azkaban was the most artistic, well-made of the films to date. And I've always loved Chamber of Secrets for its plot, from the moment I first read the book. Goblet of Fire, hamstrung by its duty to "lay the pipe" needed for the second half of the saga, can't quite compete. I still recommend it. It still probably rates around a B+ for me. But, as with the book it's based on, I'm more left with a sense of waiting for the fifth installment than anything else.
5 comments:
I enjoyed the movie, and I was surprised at the pace it had. It moved along like an action flick, and that was exhilarating. I did notice blips when things were skippped, but the director seemed to have taken a heavy dose of "Get On With It!" which was refreshing.
I found it above average at best. I agree that it felt like an action flick - explosions and tense moments with no pauses for introspection. I found the pacing to be poor - it was just "this happens, then this happens, and then this needs to happen because we need to reference it later." I was waiting for a pause so that we could actually get into the characters' heads and see what they were like. Except for the sub-plot about the dance (which was the best part of the movie), there was no characterization.
It held my interest, but I don't think I can give it more than two stars (out of four). I wish they'd kept Cuaron around tod direct.
You miss the obvious questin that all your readers have been hanging on - what did your sisters think?????
Huh. I think I would have said exactly what david said. With a triple helping of longing for Cauron. I'm really hoping they bring him back for 6 or 7 (already too late for 5, from what I hear).
Did anyone else stay and hear the awful song at the end of the credits? We did. After my favorite credits of all time with the Marauder's Map in 3, that part of 4 was especially disappointing.
Still, I didn't begrudge the 2 1/2 hours or anything.
Not only are they going with a new director for installment #5, but for the very first time, they're going with a new writer.
After one man did the adaptations of all four of the films so far, he decided he'd had enough and opted out of adapting the fifth book. Word has it he's had a change of heart after reading the sixth book, and he's going to be back for Half-Blood Prince. But, as with the director situation, it's too late for movie five.
I'm not automatically going to say the change is bad, but it does give one pause.
Post a Comment