It could have been so much more.

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2013)

Ah, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The film marking the beginning of a new era of Harry Potter films. We see the series take a turn into darker territory. Harry Potter is still played by Daniel Radcliffe, Ron's still got red hair, Malfoy is still being a horrible person (or should I say ferret?) and there's a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the fourth year running. All in all, it's a pretty normal year apart from the tournament. Yes, the Triwizard Tournament. With a name like tri-wizard you'd expect three wizards, but no, they've thrown you off and given you four. It should be such a memorable film. We have the grand Yule Ball, the huge Quidditch World Cup, and the dramatic ending with Voldemort being reborn once more and fighting Harry, and losing (again!) But is it as memorable as it should be? No, it's just forgettable. I remember the first film, when Harry is introduced. I remember the second, when he's still a good character. But it's becoming less about the main character as it goes on.
Dumbledore performs well, as expected, and the delivery of Alan Rickman's lines as Severus Snape are spot on yet again, but it's not enough to make me want to return to watching the film again, unlike others in the Harry Potter series. As a film, it's good. As a HP film? It's below average. It should be so much more than it is, but it's in an awkward middle ground where the film isn't so filled with special effects that it's aesthetically stunning, but it's got too much so it seems forced. Last film we caught a glimpse of the member of Hufflepuff house, Cedric Diggory. In this near-three-hour acting showcase we're really introduced to him as a character. When he dies, we are meant to feel sadness and pain, but he's not shown as an important enough character for a viewer to feel much of it. Granted, we've known him for one and a half hours, but in a series with around 20 hours running time total? Why are we meant to feel bad for him? Is it because he's a *sparkly vampire*? No, Robert Pattinson, your character could have been better, and to be honest so could your acting.
Maybe it's because the film wasn't split into two parts like Deathly Hallows was. There was a lot more plot in the book that could have been expanded upon, but it wasn't used. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare? You may love him or hate him, but I'm sure many would have been pleased to see him in another film. Hagrid's embarrassment about being revealed as a "half-giant"? Would have been another reason for the audience to hate Rita Skeeter, the lime-green-jacket wearing paparazzi. Draco Malfoy being turned into a ferret by his dad's co-worker? Yes, we got that, but there was so much left out we felt sad and depressed for quite a bit of the film. Harry's name gets pulled out of the Goblet of Fire, and no one likes him because they don't think that he did it. Then we find out he's going to be facing tasks that could kill him, which makes us feel worse. And then later on we have the Yule Ball, and Harry can't find a partner because his love interest Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw, has already been taken by a *sparkly vampire*. Then in the third task he almost gets killed (several times), and then he goes to a creepy graveyard where Cedric dies. (He's not killed by Voldemort, as Harry will repeatedly claim for the next two or three years, but by Peter Pettigrew, the servant of Voldemort. Remember him?) The two rivals of Harry and Voldemort then proceed to face off with an electronic light show to the death and when Harry arrives with Cedric's body it makes us feel even worse than we already felt. The film ends on a sad note, and it doesn't seem like a particularly satisfying viewing experience. It makes you think about how much better the film would have been if it had been split in two. Regardless, it still has some well-directed moments that I admittedly did enjoy while watching, which applies for most of the film, but looking back it doesn't inspire the same warm feeling inside the audience that we had for the first film. It can only get better from here, Harry.