The Harry Potter adventures gets darker

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2006)

Those of us Potter book fans who were upset with the things left out of Prisoner of Azkaban had better face the fact - they are not gonna fit everything in these films! Cut out the Dursleys, Herimone's (slightly annoying) house-elf liberation plans, and a few basically unimportant characters, and there's where hardcore "purist" Potterites went crazy.
The beginning is choppy, but really, it had to be to fit in the more important later parts. Voldemort is making evil plots in the background, as his supporters build up and begin to terrorize the wizarding world once again at the Quidditch World Cup. The wizarding world is on the brink of a real war as the book goes on, and the thing I liked about it is that the tenseness of Harry's whole situation is lightened up by comedy (much better quality than the other films) & light romance/ teenage awkwardness.
Characters who were always put into the background in the films were brought out- Fred and George are no longer just a pop-in/pop-out joke. Neville is more developed and brought out. Ginny has a lot more lines, and makes more appearances as her character becomes more important (as well as Neville's).
New schools join Hogwarts in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and Harry's name mysteriously comes out of the Goblet of Fire (an impartial judge for the tournament), even when he didn't put it in there. Harry is being accused by friends and fellows because he is three years younger than he is supposed to be. He goes through the three dangerous tasks of the tournament, and befriends the popular and handsome Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff. You really see the difference between Harry and Cedric in this film, and that Harry can be just like every other teenage male. This film is no longer child's play. It reaches PG-13, as it should be. Voldemort returns, a loss is suffered, and Harry narrowly escapes death himself but is left shaken.
The friendship of Harry, Ron and Hermione deepens as their world faces death for the first time, and the look on Harry's face shows it all in the end. Radcliffe makes a spectacular performance, and since in the next book Harry suffers from survivor's guilt, it will be great to see him act out that part of Harry. And as the last chapter of the book is called, the end of this Potter film is only "The Beginning" of dark and difficult times.
I left the theater very satisfied and extremely happy at how the book was portrayed on screen. If you didn't understand some parts, read the book/get the audio book/ask a friend who's read the book! It's an addicting read & a turning point in the series. The DVD should be awesome, especially the special features. Hope this review helps! :)