after reading the book BEFORE watching it.

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2005)

Well, I will have my complaints in this, and will have my praises. Let me start by complaining.
They did in fact leave a lot out of the plot of people like Crouch, Bagman (who isn't even in the movie, but I suppose could have done without), and the thing that really got me that they missed was the part of Snape being a Death Eater. That was completely crucial to the plot, and it really bummed me out that it wasn't there.
Secondly, whatever happened to that scene of Harry sneaking around in the invisibility cloak, and him nearly getting caught by Snape and Crouch, but Moody saves him. That would have been cool to see, but that's just me. So would them finding out that skeeter was an Animagus.
Overall, I'm not much of a book fan, and I suppose I just read these things to get a sense of what is going on. I liked it when I read Azkaban AFTER seeing the movie, because that way I could fully enjoy the movie without critiquing it too much. After reading the book and watching it again, then I guess I had a few more complaints, because they kind of messed up with azkaban, even though I thought the movie was brilliant as a MOVIE. If you put every little thing from a book into a movie, then you'll have a 6-7 hour movie, and you will fall asleep by the end. If they had tried to make this one a little bit longer, then they might have been able to do better with it, but I still loved Goblet better than Azkaban.
Last complaints. WHERE IN THE BLOODY HELL WAS SIRIUS? HE"S THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPORTING CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE BOOK, QUITE LITERALLY. THEY COMPLETELY BUTCHERED THAT! Also WHERE THE HELL DID QUIDITTCH GO, they just used that whole World Cup scene to introduce Krum. there were so many interesting parts of the Quidditch Cup in the book. all we get is a bloody talent show, and then we don't even see a match. The sorry excuse for a match in Azkaban would have been like a Quidditch Globetrotters game compared to the crap Quidditch we got here.
OK, now for the good stuff.
I liked how they got the main plot of Harry in the Goblet of Fire, and Voldemort returning pretty dead on. The other thing that I liked that Newell did was how the small stuff was paid closer attention to, but in a very subtle way in some areas, and a huge part in others. there were some very interesting things that could have been put into the movie from the book that were very little and insignificant, but would have worked on film. The stuff they did cut out, some of it was worth it, some of it just screams "why the heck did they leave that out?" For example, I personally am getting a little tired of the Dursleys in the beginning of every movie now. The cut was bound to happen if you ask me. Harry's dream is much more interesting, plus it took forever in the books to actually get to the Quidditch world cup.
The whole save the elves thing in the book could have been done subtly but I wouldn't have been too interested in that. Those elves were annoying if you ask me, and I'm a wee bit thankful for their cut.
As for Hagrid's whole giant-allowed-to-teach-at-Hogwarts dilemma, could have been done, but wasn't. Again, another thing that took forever to solve in the book when it wasn't moving along the main plot at all.
As for the Tri wizard tournament scenes. Brilliance scenes, especially in the Dragon scenes. The Yule Ball was well done, and it was key to the movie, so I'm glad they got that in there. There was enough of the Indian twins as well as Cho Chang, and I'm glad they stayed true to the books with those subtle details. The Voldemort return was kind of quick at first, but as it went along, it became more interesting to watch. The ending where Harry broke down after Diggory died was major kudos on Radcliffe's's part. The ending with Moody was a good end to all the peril in the movie. I think they could have done more with the Trio at the end, but hey, it's the movies. They always butcher something from a book or game.
I guess I'm saying that they can't do every single thing in the books, and they often leave out wonderful parts that would work well on screen. I felt somewhat gypped from the books, but I guess that is my punishment for reading the books first. Cinematically, it's a fantastic film to watch, as for being faithful to the books, the first and second one do it the best, but it gets a little boring if you follow every detail again. I think in order to absolutely defend this movie's future, I can say that I think they cut out some of the subtle things to avoid repeating themselves in the movies as far as goes events that have already happened in a similar way. My two main disappoints are the ones in capital letters, but all in all, it's entertainment, and it's Hollywood, and this is what we get. I know I'm waiting 'till after Phoenix comes out to read that book.
7/10