Okay film; bad series entry

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2006)

When trying to condense a 700-page book into a 2-1/2 hour movie, some elements will inevitably be lost. Unfortunately for the writer and director of Order of the Phoenix, essential plot points were removed to make room for an overly extended ballroom scene.
Whover makes OOTF will have to cover the gaps left in GOF, such as Dobby as a kitchen elf at Hogwart's, Hermione's Elf Liberation Movement and the Weasley twins' financing of their magic business. None are mentioned in this movie; all are essential in the next. As an element, the ball (and its preparations) are irrelevant to the series, but eat up at some 15% of the film's running time. Bad choices all.
On its own, Goblet of Fire remains a pretty good piece of entertainment, but makers of subsequent films will have trouble avoiding the land mines set by this film's writing/directing team.