|
Well, I was very entertained by and also pretty disappointed in GoF.
This was a return to the "scenes from" style of directing. Meaning, ahem, there was no style to the directing efforts by Mike Newell.
After the beautiful direction of the last outting, a return to this more juevenile style was a let-down, as I'd hope the films would continue to become more adult in style as the characters got older.
It didn't help matters that Goblet returns to the same old story pattern used in the two first films of a vague McGuffin device, hinted at but barely dealt with during a Hogwarts term, that transports Harry to a brief and predictible encounter with Voldemort in the final act. Ho and hum.
The story is not the director's fault, but the more childish story construction coupled with far less inspired pacing, editing, and other tangibles of film direction, left this film deep in the shadows of Prisoner of Azkaban, imo.
That being said, I was thoroughly entertained throughout. This is by no means an unenjoyable film. But I consider it back to the realm of kiddie movie style, despite some scary elements and "afterschool special" adolescent themes. Yet the visuals were good, the story moved along, and there was excitement and humor in good measure.
On the other hand, the story editing was atrocious. I know they had to cut a bunch of stuff out, but the film seemed really choppy to me. The arrangement of scenes seemed thrown together rather than artfully assembled.
And, much to my great disappointment, it seems to me that both Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have either passed their attractiveness prime, or are each going through an awkward stage of development. Advance still pictures from the movie had me thinking they were continuing to get sexier with (finally legal) age, but I found the two of them surprisingly unappealing this time around.
And speaking of unappealing, I think this story goes way too far in portraying Harry and especially Ron as the biggest losers at Hogwarts. Watching the film, I began to wonder why we should care about these two characters who were such dreadfully unlikeable dorks.
I don't mean to sound so down on it. I like the series, and this one might end up being my second favorite (official Zlick ranking pending). I laughed a lot, and I was never bored. Brendan Gleeson as Mad Eye (or technically Crouch as Mad Eye) was a stand out, and hugely enjoyable. But the movie's a step down in quality from PofA, and that's a source of unfortunate disappointment.
|