Enjoyably dark entry in the series that counteracts the long running time with a good (and consistent) pace and exciting set pieces

Rating: Null/10 (19 April 2006)

Despite strange and violent appearances during the Quidditch World Cup, Hogwarths are selected to host the Legendary Triwizard Tournament. Three representatives are to be selected from the magical goblet of fire, but students under the age of 17 are barred from being put forward. So three are picked but a fourth name is brought out of the cup  that of Harry Potter. Claiming he never put it in or even wanted to take part, Harry is told that rules are rules and that he must take part in the dangerous tasks. Meanwhile, aside from the tasks, a dark force continues to grow around Hogwarths; one that has a Having quite enjoyed the darker tone of the last film, I did want to take a look at this one despite not caring about the books or being that impressed with the film series in truth. However, due to my experience in the cinema last time (what idiots think that 4 year old kids will be able to sit still in a cinema for almost 3 hours?) I decided to get it on video this time. Although I was a bit unsure as to the relevance of the opening Quidditch scene (it just seemed to jump right into it then move on) it did mark the start to what was an enjoyably dark film with a good pace and enough substance to hold my interest. The story is a rather long winded way of getting us closer to the conclusion of the story and, I suppose, looking back on the narrative it does play like just a load of set pieces with the elephant constantly stood in the dark corner of the room. That said though, the script has enough to it to be more than just a load of noise, with sufficient story in it to stand as a solid tale as well as a link in a series.
The dark tone will be too much for some younger viewers, although personally I don't think a bit of darkness will hurt them in the longterm. However my advice would be to not take a young child to the cinema  you'll spoil it for everyone else. The effects are impressive without being the whole show  in other words, during the dragon scene I was into the excitement of the scene rather than just staring at the effects. Newell's direction is part of this as he gives the whole film a feeling of foreboding doom, a feeling greatly helped by the grim but attractive cinematography and wonderful attention to detail in sets and costumes.
The cast is full of famous faces but it feels a bit more focused than earlier films. Radcliffe is good value for the vast majority of the film and it is only really when the script asks him to dig deeper that he is exposed and found wanting (you'll know the scene I mean). Grint and Watson have a bit more to them than in the last films  still very much support characters but interesting in their own rights. Gleeson makes a menacing addition to the cast and hams it up just enough without doing it too much. Tennant is good in a side role, although he is a bit hard to view with the Dr Who hindsight. The rest of the cast all turn in good performances in very small parts without making the film feel cluttered (although it is hard to always accept that some famous people do very little). Rickman is a case in point but he is a nice presence, as are Williams, Sykes (!), Spall, Coltrane, Gambon, Davis, de la Tour (!), Smith, Oldman and a few others.
Overall then, this is an enjoyable film that benefits from a solid story, dark and mean content and generally good performances. It probably isn't suitable for the same age group that the first films were, but it is a better all round film for it. Hopefully the later films can keep this dark, mean tone while continuing to deepen and strength the story and characters.