Worth the wait? Maybe

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2005)

Okay, let's face it- if they were true to the book, I would *still* be at the theatre watching the movie, 7 hours after it started. There is a ton of stuff cut from the book, some plot changes, and my favorite scene wasn't in it, but overall this movie is one I liked a lot more than Prisoner of Azkaban.
My company was able to set up a special sneak preview the day before the official US opening (and charged about 1/3 the normal price for a ticket, go eat your hearts out :-) ). About 200 of us were there and I don't think there was anyone there who went away unhappy.
Spoilers follow: PLOT SUMMARY: Harry Potter is now in his 4th year at Hogwarts. After attending the World Quidditch Cup Championship with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, he finds himself entered into the TriWizard Tournament as the fourth entrant of three, and three years to young to have entered except through some mysterious means. With knowledge of the first task in the tournament and a hint from new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher "Mad-Eye" Moody, Harry is able to complete his task against a dragon. Fellow 4th year Gryffindor Student Neville Longbottom assists in the second task with key information after Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts Champion, returns Harry the favor of telling him what the task involves. And both Cedric and Harry finish the third task, just to find out that nothing they have faced in the tourney has prepared them for "He Who Must Not Be Named".
Minuses- Not one minute of Quidditch. Rita Skeeter being relegated to a bit part and her ultimate fate from the book not even hinted at. The S.P.E.W. subplot not mentioned. The lack of Dobby. No train ride home.
Plusses- The Quidditch Stadium for the World Cup. The Weasley twins attempt to enter the tournament. Professor Moody's lesson with Malfoy. The dragons, or, in particular, Harry's dragon. Voldemort's reconstitution. The shock of the crowd and Amos Diggory when his son is returned, dead. Dumbledore's attack on Barty Crouch Jr.
If you have never read the book(s), this will be a great movie. If you have read the books, you will feel a little cheated because all of the fabulous interweaving of threads from book to book (and within the book) are lost simply due to the constraints of the medium. Part of the wonder of the books is to see something in one book that goes back two or three books as almost a throwaway line or aside; I am afraid that in a future movie that tie-in lack will cause a problem.
Of all the new characters, Madame Maxime did not match my idea of what she would look like. Voldemort is excellent, Barty Crouch Jr. was great.
If you have seen the other movies, you will really enjoy this one. And if you've read the book, you have to be thinking "TV Mini-Series"- that would have been the way to do the books right.