It's a fantasy world so getting through plate might be justified, imo.
On the main character - Cavill is too cute, I really do think Mads Mikkelsen's weird look and acting would be much better for Gerald (and Christopher Waltz as Vilgefortz ;-)
And Sar1n is right - it looks like a Hollywood generic fantasy, loosing all "slavic" tiny features that made the novels standing out.