Good, but too many things were left out. Feeling of being rushed.

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2005)

I went to the midnight show to see GOF. A midnight show should start at midnight, wouldn't you think? However, after 30 minutes (yes, 30 minutes) of TV commercials and movie previews, GOF started at 12:30 am. I enjoyed the movie, but I felt that I was rushed through the whole thing. For example, the movie opened with Frank Bryce being murdered by Voldemolt (there was also a man in the room with Volty, Wormtail and Nagini), and Harry waking up at the Burrow (by Hermione) with his scar burning. Then, they were off to the Quiddich World Cup, which was very short, but with good special effects. No Winky next to Harry, and Ludo Bagman and Percy Weasley were not in the movie at all. Then it was back to the campsite. When everyone was screaming and the Death Eaters were walking about, Mr. Weasley told everyone to go the Portkey. People were running and screaming and Harry got knocked out and was separated from the Weasley bunch. When he awoke, the campsite was destroyed and saw a man lurking about. This man conjured the Dark Mark. Then the Weasley bunch found Harry, Hermione told Harry what the Dark Mark was, then they left. All of this happened within 10-15 minutes from the start of the movie. Whew! What a roller-coaster ride! The director, Mike Newell, went against the studio's request for a two-part movie. He tried to get the gist of the book into a little over 2hr movie. I was impressed by the special effects, since his previous movies didn't involve them.
Now I know the movie is geared toward children and that they would not sit for a 4-hour movie, but too bad they couldn't shoot the movie properly (with most of the book's content) and show a time-edited version for children and the longer version for adults and die-hard HP fans. Just gimme an intermission to pee and get more popcorn! A lot of things were combined, like the scene with Karkaroff's trial in front of the Ministry. When he was giving up the names of the Death Eaters, he mentioned Barty Crouch Jr. This is why they showed him in the opening scene and later conjuring the Dark Mark. Also, Sirius was only seen in the fire talking to Harry. The gang did not go to see him like they did in the book.
Overall, the movie was good and MUCH better than the 3rd. Although, the 3rd book is still my favorite (story) and was very disappointed that Alfonso completely screwed it up!
Go see the movie. It's good, but be prepared for a lot of omissions and story combinations, due to time-constraints. But, I'm off to see it again!