"Bloody hell", this movie was amazing.

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2005)

I consider myself as much of a Harry Potter fan as the next crazy person who sat outside in the snow for an hour just to get in the theater for the midnight showing. I'm pleased to say that this movie did NOT disappoint, and of all four, is the one that lives up most to the hype. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I was horrified...it touched on every possible emotion, and did so in a completely realistic and non-corny way (well, as realistic as you can make a story about giants, dragons and wizards anyway.)
I must say I am a hard-core Hermione/Ron shipper, and this movie keeps with the book as far as giving us Hr/R followers a glimpse into the mounting turmoil and mutual attraction of their relationship. It even keeps with some of my favorite dialogue from the book. Malfoy fans will be greatly disappointed, as his exposure is limited to only 2 or 3 scenes (but oh, what good scenes they were!), and Sirius was reduced to a molten face in a fire. But I think they did a great job of picking out what was most important, and playing it out in a way that made sense to those who haven't read the books. Book fans will find themselves making mental notes of all the things that are different (there's a lot), but in its own right, it is a fantastic movie.
The acting is superb. I don't even know where to begin. As for most improved, the award goes to Harry (Daniel Radcliff). He has grown by leaps and bounds as an actor from the last movie, and more than any other, truly makes you feel what he is feeling. Rupert (Ron) is hilarious and adorable as always, and Emma (Hermione) gives a stellar performance, and is truly growing into her own with the character. Cedric, Viktor, Moody and Voldemort are all brilliantly cast, and Ralph Fiennes portrayal of the Dark Lord is truly terrifying, as it should be. This movie definitely earned its PG-13 rating, and I'm glad. It's more adult, in theme, plot and action...from the undeniably suggestive Prefect bathroom scene in which Moaning Myrtle attempts to snuggle up to a naked Harry, to tales of physical love and teenage angst, to the thrilling and horrifying return of Lord Voldemort. Definitely not a children's film, as the progression of the story has grown with its audience.
The effects are, in a word, amazing. Nothing looked forced, or even unrealistic, actually. The dragon scene was particularly good. And, the scene where Voldemort is transformed...I was scared out of my wits. And, you get many gratuitous aerial views of the landscape that will take your breath away. The imagery, at least for me, fits all the fantasies that are had while reading the book. They seemed to pluck it right from the imagination of true Potter fans, and for that, I applaud them.
Even if you know the plot, this movie will leave you on the edge of your seat. I found myself laughing hysterically throughout much of the movie, and balling my eyes out when Cedric died and Harry cried over his lifeless body.
Because it must be said, there were some MAJOR differences that irked me a bit. The film was undoubtedly rushed, but I went into it with that expectation, knowing they had adapted 700+ pages of detailed text into 2 and a half hours. I missed the house elves, Malfoy, Snape, and many of the main characters, whose roles were drastically cut. One thing that REALLY got my blood boiling was Dumbledore's out of character explosion. We have seen time and time again that regardless of the circumstances, the chances of Dumbledore raising his voice in anger, much less grabbing at a student with obvious force, are slim to none. We've all come to love Dumbledore in that, even when Harry is acting like a stupid angsty teenager, he stands quietly aside and tries to reason, even affirms Harry's feelings. Making Dumbledore act like any NORMAL person would act is a big no-no. In addition, he was unconvincing otherwise as the strong, confident, peaceful leader that we all know Dumbledore to be. He seemed weak...and well, just off, throughout much of the film. I also felt that Harry's face-off with Voldemort, for being such a pivotal part of the story, was reduced to mere moments. Cedric, dead. Dark Lord, alive. Face-off. And back to Hogwarts. As much as I loved the Quidditch World Cup, it should have been erased from the plot to make more time for other things, like the aforementioned Harry vs. Voldemort.
But I went into it with the understanding that many things would be missing, and strictly from the point of simply enjoying a movie, this one is well worth the ticket price. Is it better than the book? Of course not! Is it a good adaptation of the book? Kinda. The main points are there at least. Is it an enjoyable movie? Absolutely, but one must not go in with a critical attitude if you're going to enjoy it. And in the end, I forgot about all the stuff they took out, even tried to forget that I had read the book, and concluded that this movie was absolutely, undeniably wonderful.