I liked the movie but I completely see your complaints. It's a matter of taste in the end. Personally, I didn't like the way H/G was handled in this movie, and Gambon's Dumbledore was/is too much Gandalf and not enough whimsy for me. Richard Harris will always be my Dumbledore...
I recently rewatched OotP and absolutely loved it. I think I need to rewatch GoF too, just to see how I really feel about what Kloves does to a HP script.
I have these dreadful memories of disliking GOF movie, but I can't entirely remember why. They did some things fine (I liked Harry/Ron fall out) but a lot of it was just so cheesy and ugh.
I don't care for H/G so while I didn't like it in the movie, I don't feel like I should complain since I don't think I would've been happy, no matter what they did with it.
I pretty much agree with all of your criticisms of the movie! Steve Kloves is such as asshat. I was not very happy at all to hear that he would be back for HBP. I particularly agreed with the following bit:
See, there's two things I dislike about the way Steve Kloves writes these scripts. a) When he adds shit that's just downright fucking stupid and awkward, like a lot of GOF, and b) when he opts not to have these simple small bits of the book in-tact that would make a very clear point in very few lines.
I don't understand why Kloves cuts out special details that explain so much, especially when it's a line or two that would add a lot more depth to the story. I was surprised when Dumbledore breezed right over mentioning that Voldemort liked collecting special trinkets.
I have to say that I did like this one slightly better than OOtP, though. It may have just been because I liked the book itself better, so the story content appealed to me more than the previous one.
I wish Kloves would do what the writers behind LOTR movies did .. I remember them saying that often they were struggling on how to work something out and the best solution came from the world of Tolkien itself. Like you mentioned the trinkets thing, such a small, simple thing, straight from the books, explains so much about a pivotal character.
I might like this more on a rewatch, I had just re-read the book so I think I was way too critical of it because of that. But yeah, I really wish they'd bring back OOTP script writer.
My general impression is that anyone who did a re-read has been pretty critical (for obvious reasons), though some people seem to take it further than others. I for one don't like the movie to ape the books since what works on the page doesn't necessarily work on screen, but I am thinking about re-reading before I go watch it a second time, to get a different spin on the whole thing.
I really, really liked the OOTP screenwriter as well and was totally bummed when I found out he wasn't coming back for the next movie. Stupid Kloves, argh! >:O
What's odd for me is that some critics who havent read the book really loved it.. I mean, I think the movie was well executed, I just have all these nitpicks because I thought the execution in terms of the story could have been better. But I always think the movies must be confusing if you haven't read the books. Like Snape being the HBP, it's just a throwaway line at the end of the movie, in the book it's at least a little fleshed out.
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I recently rewatched OotP and absolutely loved it. I think I need to rewatch GoF too, just to see how I really feel about what Kloves does to a HP script.
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I don't care for H/G so while I didn't like it in the movie, I don't feel like I should complain since I don't think I would've been happy, no matter what they did with it.
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See, there's two things I dislike about the way Steve Kloves writes these scripts. a) When he adds shit that's just downright fucking stupid and awkward, like a lot of GOF, and b) when he opts not to have these simple small bits of the book in-tact that would make a very clear point in very few lines.
I don't understand why Kloves cuts out special details that explain so much, especially when it's a line or two that would add a lot more depth to the story. I was surprised when Dumbledore breezed right over mentioning that Voldemort liked collecting special trinkets.
I have to say that I did like this one slightly better than OOtP, though. It may have just been because I liked the book itself better, so the story content appealed to me more than the previous one.
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I might like this more on a rewatch, I had just re-read the book so I think I was way too critical of it because of that. But yeah, I really wish they'd bring back OOTP script writer.
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I really, really liked the OOTP screenwriter as well and was totally bummed when I found out he wasn't coming back for the next movie. Stupid Kloves, argh! >:O
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