Introduction

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth movie installment of the Harry Potter novels by JK Rowling….just in case there is anyone who has been living under a rock for the last decade.  I sort of view the Harry Potter films like Star Trek films, every other one is good.  In this series it is the odd numbered ones that I really enjoy.  But that said Goblet of Fire is a good adaptation of the novel, an enjoyable film.  It just could have been much, much better.

Munging Novel to Film

Goblet of Fire as a novel was the first in the series to be really big.  There were slight increases in page count and complexity in the previous three, but Goblet of Fire is where it ballooned into something a little more complicated and a little more mature.  The problem with taking a very big, full book is that you will have to take things out to fit it onto the big screen.  Goblet of Fire easily could have been two films, there was enough material there.  That, however, is not a realistic expectation. 

Goblet of Fire as a film concentrates on the important bits of the novel, but leaves almost everything else aside.  The Tri-Wizard Tournament is covered, the rise of the Death Eaters and the resurrection of Lord Voldemort.  These are covered well and unlike Chamber of Secrets it was not so boiled down as to remove the important aspects of the originating novel.  I thought the script was well executed, but I could have toughed out an extra 20 minutes more for more fleshing out of the side plots. 

Warning the script completely telegraphs who is going to die, even more so than the novel, so do not expect any great twist or turn in that department (assuming you have not read the novel…).

Visuals

The visuals in Goblet of Fire were not on par with the previous films.  Hogwarts often had a the feel of a muggle school rather than a wizardry school.  Also why would all the triwizard competitors be wearing muggle warm up suits?  Where Prisoner of Azkaban made the wizarding world feel very real and organic, Goblet of Fire has that same world aping the muggle world.  The effects in places are really quite good, but many of the choices in how the wizarding world was portrayed felt like a step back.

Acting

There was definitely a brooding teenager vibe going on in Goblet of Fire.  I thought Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were a little under par as compared to the rest of the movies as Ron was made to be less funny and more brooding and Hermoine was mad eot be a bit more emotional.  Daniel Radcliff delivered a good Harry Potter again, but some people are born for a role… I still do not like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, Peter O’Toole would have been a much better replacement, but then again with a series stretching out over a decade a very old actor is a tremendous risk.  It is too bad that Benny Hill died very young and a logn time ago because I think he would have been a great Madeye Moody.  But Brendan Gleeson did a good job and did well with the part.

Much as the Internet makes much ado about nothing.  The character of Cho Chang is at best a minor bit and whiel Katie Leung was okay for the part, anyone expecting anything more than a bit part is to be disappointed.  The actresses playing the Patil twins have more and better lines. 

Also as a note many of the characters that have been used in the series previously are noticeably quiet, so if you are a big huge fan of Draco or Snape you might be a little let down.

What Worked

At the end when Harry was trapped I did like the fact that he was an inexperienced wizard and going against more experienced ones left him at a disadvantage.

The more brutal aspects of English schools was well illustrated

Boiled down the novel well, all the bases were covered

The Weasley Twins were played perfectly this time around

What Did Not

A step back in regards to portraying the wizarding world

Aping of the muggle world by the wizarding world

Taking out some of the subplots for the sake of run time

Hermoine and Ron were a little underutilized and flat

Overall

I akin this franchise to the Star Trek movies because every other one in the one I really like.  Except in the case of Harry Potter it is the odd films that are the ones I like.  I did enjoy Goblet of Fire and think it was a good boil down for film of a great novel.  It is understandable that many aspects that I enjoyed in the novel were left out, but unlike Chamber of Secrets there was nothing left out that that shouldn’t have been.  This would be my third favorite out of the four films, if only because I thought the visual direction of the film made the wizarding world ape the muggle world too much.

Is Chamber of Secrets worth your cash?  You bet.  It is an enjoyable film and a decent adaptation of the novel.