Better than the others!

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2005)

When asked what I thought about Goblet of Fire, I responded, "Better than the others, and I loved them!" Mike Newell did a fantastic job! The movie opens quickly, jumping right into the action. Within the first fifteen minutes, we've experienced Harry's nightmare, the Quidditch World Cup, the Dark Mark, and the Hogwarts Express. Not once did I feel like the movie should have been moving along faster.
Our child stars get better and better as each movie comes along. Daniel Radcliffe's Harry is perfect, just who I envision now when reading the books. Emma Watson as Hermione shines as the know-it-all friend and Rupert Grint has traded in the whinyness and is developing into a wonderful comic figure.
New supporting cast, Stanislav Ianevski, Robert Pattinson, Clemence Poesy, and Katie Leung fit perfectly into the Potter world. To me it felt as if they belonged at Hogwarts and had been there all along, just hiding somewhere behind the camera in the last three movies.
A star-studded British cast embodies the Hogwarts professors, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltraine, Sir Michael Gambon, and Brendan Gleeson amongst others.
If I could choose one thing that didn't seem to fit, it would be Sir Michael Gambon's Dumbledore. He was far too aggressive. In the scene following the announcement of the champions, he becomes rather violent, cornering Harry against the wall and getting up in his face. Very out of character and in my opinion, a bad choice.
Stunning visual effects subtly fill this movie, never out of place, but never taking over the story. Gone are the miserable days of the hideous centaur creation from Sorceror's(Philosopher's) Stone.
And finally, with a British director comes British humor, dry, witty, and wonderful. I never expected that I would spend so much time laughing in such a dark movie.
Bottom line? Good enough to see again.
And again.
And again.