Magic Movie Moments with Harry, Part 7a: Everything Else

So we've covered some of the multitude of things that are great about these films, but as we all know, they are not without their flaws.  Don't get me wrong, I love the films, especially because I have been able to regard them as separate entities from the novels on the whole, but there are always going to be struggles when one attempts to adapt from a beloved book.  Here are a few places where the proverbial ball was really, really dropped.

Plot Holes Abound (Goblet of Fire)
One of the very best parts of Goblet of Fire, the novel, was the immense complexity of the plot, and specifically the means by which Voldemort returns to power.  Central to this explanation is Barty Crouch Jr, played with wonderful creepiness by David Tennant in the film version.  However, the screenwriter totally botched the explanation of why we were even introduced to this character, and didn't come close to explaining the critical role he played in the Dark Lord's return.  Perhaps they were simply counting on moviegoers to be too scared and shocked to question exactly how they ended up there.

Mayhem at the Burrow (Half-Blood Prince)
Not only did this have the potential to throw continuity for a loop going into the final two films, it just felt wholly unnecessary.  Half-Blood Prince the book gave lots of ways to illustrate the growing threat and power of Voldemort and company, they didn't have to burn Ron's house down!  It did give us a pretty great visual, I guess, but I would have rather had them use that time (and budget) on some of the scenes which were in the book but ultimately cut from the movie, such as additional trips into the pensieve with Dumbledore.

False Hope for Harry/Hermione Fans (all films, possible exception of Half-Blood Prince)
Guys, it's time you all accept something, just in time for the final film this week, where it will be cemented in film history forever.  It's Hermione and Ron.  They're the ones who belong together, who have always been intended for each other, and who (SPOILER) wind up married to one another.  Unfortunately, it would appear that the filmmakers have forgotten this, and on more occasions than can really be excused.  Long gazes at Hermione in her dress robes (GoF) and slow dancing (DH1) notwithstanding, Harry and Hermione are only ever going to be platonic friends, regardless of how nice Dan and Emma might look together.

Harry and Ginny (Half-Blood Prince)
One character who has been consistently shortchanged in the films is Ginny Weasley, particularly when it comes to her romance with the Boy Who Lived.  Yes, it does come up rather suddenly even in the novel (Half-Blood Prince, for those wondering), but the films somehow turn it into even more of a mess.  JK Rowling wrote a great story for Harry and Ginny, one that was realistic and entertaining, and many of the moments she penned (the kiss in the common room, in particular), were OBVIOUSLY written with the films in mind.  And what did the filmmakers do instead?  Gave us awkwardness on top of awkwardness, a thoroughly anticlimactic first kiss, and not even the courtesy of a proper breakup at the end of film 6.  So many people complain that Bonnie Wright is not a very talented actress, but I would turn that statement around and ask when she has been given anything truly decent to work with.

Snape's Worst Memory (Order of the Phoenix)
Okay, here's the thing about this scene.  We learn later that Lily is the key part of the reason it is Snape's "worst memory", and in the film she doesn't even appear, despite the fact that they cast her and presumably filmed a scene in which she was featured.  This is one of the many ways they've failed to execute the Snape/Lily subplot, and as it stands, people who have only seen the films have no idea that Snape and Harry's mother even knew each other, much less had any kind of relationship.  How DH2 will remedy this in the course of a few scenes, we will have to see, but my biggest complaint about this whole business is the fact that JK Rowling had final approval on changes made to her stories, and you'd think she might have been concerned that they omitted such a critical detail.

Magic Movie Moments with Harry, Part 4: Goblet of Fire

This installment of HP's adventures is a pretty good one, not my favorite but not one I have a lot of complaints about, either.  The movie is very well-paced and the scenes bleed into one another so well that I'm hard-pressed to find a lot of stand-alone scenes that are really fantastic, so these are more "chunks" of the film that I particularly enjoy.

Death Eaters are Fucking Scary.  Also, fire.
Now don't get me wrong, when I read this scene in the book I pictured it as very, very scary.  I mean, Harry is understandably freaked out-- some bad dudes (he doesn't even know yet what they are) are on a rampage at what was supposed to be a fun public event, and to top it off, he can't find his wand, his one means of defending himself.  But the film made this scene so remarkably chaotic and frightening that even I was scared in an entirely new way.  Those Death Eater masks and Klan hats on top of the whole campground being on fire and everyone panicking, man, I was with Harry, just frozen in fear.  Oh, and any scene where someone gets inadvertently kicked in the head always has me torn between worry and laughter.

The Yule Ball is every dance your high school ever had.  Plus magic.
Oh my, the teen awkwardness in this movie is just golden.  From Harry's botched attempt to ask Cho to the Ball (and his hilarious subsequent brooding), to Ron and Hermione's teen-soap argument over Viktor Krum, to the girls all crying on the staircase after the festivities were over, Mike Newell just got this spot on.  I loved having these scenes as a counterbalance to all the terrifying dark things going on later in the film.

Careful Harry, he doesn't have a nose! 
So Voldemort comes back in this movie.  And despite the weirdness of Ralph Fiennes' CGI lack of nose, this scene is pretty goddamn scary.  Fiennes plays Voldemort so well I can hardly stand it, and even Dan Radcliffe is tolerable in this scene (though I think it wouldn't be hard to play someone who is terrified in the face of all the awful things happening).  This was another moment in the books where I remember just closing the pages for a moment to breathe and wonder how the hell Harry was going to get out of this one.  He does, but we are a long way from the miraculous rescue of Chamber of Secrets.  This time, Harry only brings back one friend, one decidedly dead friend.  Which leads us to...

SHIT GETS REAL:  Cedric, we hardly knew ye
This scene is executed so wonderfully, and I still tear up a bit when I watch it.  Having the celebratory brass piece playing as Harry appears in front of the crowd and then abruptly cutting to mournful violins does a wonderful thing for the tone, and throwing in Cedric's father's unrestrained misery is just the icing on the heartbreak cake.  All the kids' faces are a mix of complete, bald shock and confusion, even as they let out a few tears, and it is one of the most authentic scenes in any of these films.  Great, now I'm sad again.

The other thing I love about this film on a general level is that they kept true to the book in that Goblet of Fire doesn't end on a hopeful note.  So much has happened, and so much is going to continue happening, that even the trio can't fully reassure one another.  I liked that Newell kept with this, with Harry and Hermione's simple conversation marking the turning point in the series:
"Everything's going to change, isn't it?"
"Yes."