The World of Magic and Its Hero

I cannot NOT do a review today, since I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire twice yesterday. Once, in Glorietta with my family during the first screening around lunch time, and the second time with Liza at SM City. So, I can't complain really, I love seeing it twice. I might have to drag another friend to see it again.

I really liked this movie. The problem with being a Potter fan is that I am so in love with the story and the book and the characters in the book that it's hard not to complain about the movie version. The first two ones, (Chris Columbus really sucks as Director of the second movie) are cheesy and like fairy tales version of JK Rowling's bestselling book. I cringed when everybody stood up and clapped their hands to Hagrid near the end of Chamber of Secrets. Eww.

The third one was definitely an improvement. Cuaron gave us the real view of the Magical World without making it look dreamy and romantic eventhough there's a Dark Lord lurking in there. But Cuaron is a bit melodramatic and is very fond of wide-shots and I don't like of me not getting a Daniel Radcliffe close up anywhere in the entire Prisoner of Azkaban movie.

Now, this fourth movie installment, is just right. It mixes up the right ingredients - a VERY good script, all the important scenes are there, wide-shots, and close-ups, with a steady stream of good humor (that is really part and parcel of JK Rowling's Harry Potter books) thrown in. It is just right, and that makes it, by far, the best in this series of movies.

And I like that Harry was in fact the Hero, with all of the conflicts and tribulations that heroes often have in their lives. The sneering, the jeering of the crowd, and the choice between doing what's right (saving Cedric, although the Cup is just a stone's throw away) and what's easy.

I love Harry Potter the book. I love Harry in those books. JK Rowling created a whole new world for dreamers like me. But for the first time in how many years, I can now say that I love the movie. My hat's off to the actors (who are getting better as they get older, although Emma is still a little overacting) Mike Newell and the Production team (especially the scriptwriters!). They did a really good job on this.


*By the way, you all get to see what a Pensieve looks like, and it doesn't look like -this- Pensieve. Tee hee. That Pensieve gives a whole new meaning to 'keeping memories'.
**And I got another surprise yesterday. Liza gave me the Love Actually soundtrack. Yahoo! I can now drown myself listening to Beach Boys' God Only Knows.