Read the book, watch the movie, read the book again and love it even more

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2005)

Do books ruin movies, or do movies ruin books? If you can get past the vast amount of material that didn't make the cut for Goblet of Fire, then the answer will hopefully be neither. If not, then I sure hope for your sake that the Narnia movie stays true to Lewis. Being an old Tolkien hand myself, I am able to appreciate just what a good job the writers did compacting a truly enormous book without losing the important points. Were there no faults? Au contraire, Fleur. Characters were not nearly as developed, scenes lacked some of the humor, impact or exposition that a novel allows. Some key points in the book were changed since the explanations were too lengthy to even consider. It was still far better in that sense than Prisoner of Azkaban, where I felt anyone who hadn't read the book must have been tearing their hair out (which raises the question, do people who don't read HP books see HP movies?). I can definitely say that this is the best Potter movie so far, at least in my opinion. I will always prefer the books, but that is me and I don't presume for a minute that everyone agrees with me. My wife was very disappointed, even though she really enjoyed the movie, and said that "it was like watching a slide show of the book". Fairly accurate description. So do books ruin movies or do movies ruin books? Is the glass half empty or half full? Why ask why? Just enjoy the drink and when it is empty, pour yourself another.