Shifting direction for the series brings good and bad.

Rating: 6/10 (15 June 2006)

When I first saw Goblet of Fire in the theaters, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and quite possibly favored this film of all the Harry Potter films. Which is only fitting as Goblet of Fire is also my favorite book of all books. However, upon second viewing, I was decidedly less impressed.
While others may have had gripes about a certain young actor, I had no problems with the main three: Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint. I thought they did a fine job and have truly grown as actors. I also felt that the Steve Kloves script was able to fit most of the essential parts of the story into the film, though there were some plot threads that seemed to have been dropped or lost along the way. I understand that with the amount of material needed to cram into a children's movie, there is hardly any room for lag, but unfortunately, Mike Newell's breezy direction barely gives the right moments time to breathe, and the pacing feels a fairly unbalanced.
I very much like the darker, more 'grown-up' Potter. I think this shift in the series is a welcome change, as many of the Harry Potter fans are adults. The action is more intense, and the scary scenes are delightfully scarier. And yet despite this new, older feel, many of the moments are played to the lowest crowd. Many of the gags are childish, and it doesn't help that the veteran actors like Gambon, Rickman, and even Fiennes play their characters without the gravity they possess in the books.
And that may be my biggest gripe of the film: the characters aren't quite right this time around. With such a dense script , fast pace, and multitude of child actors, it's up to the adults to nail their characters, and provide the necessary grounding for the film. But unfortunately, not everyone hits all the right notes, and we're left with something a bit more shallow than we've hoped.