The Darkest Harry Potter Film

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2005)

The minute I began watching "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" I was immediately drawn to it. When I saw the snake beginning to slither towards the mansion, I knew right away that the movie was going to be dark, yet entertaining. The change in direction was different and refreshing. The movie was excellent, yet it was not completely flawless.
ACTING Negative: First of all, I don't think that Micheal Gambon makes a very good Dumbledore. When I saw him grab Harry's shoulders and violently shake him after Harry's name came out of the Goblet, I immediately knew that Gambon was going the wrong way in trying to become a good Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore is supposed to be calm and collected. His personality should have wizards and witches look up to him for reassurance and guidance. Yet, Gambon took a different approach to the role. He looked as if he was lost most of the time. However, I do not doubt his acting abilities; I believe he is an excellent actor, but his acting in this movie is just not right. Second of all, I believe that they could have found a better Fluer, she seemed too week and frail in this movie. Even though Clemence Poesy (Fluer) is very attractive looking, she didn't exude that complete beauty and grace that Fluer does in the book. She didn't look like a veela.
Positive: The Trio has matured quite well in the acting department. Daniel Radcliffe played Harry Potter perfectly, yet was still slightly dry in the deeply emotional scenes. Emma Watson was excellent and lovely , if a little melodramatic. Rupert Grint was hilarious as Ron Weasley, just hearing him say 'bloody hell' makes me laugh. The Phelp twins were also quite hilarious (and cute) in their roles of the Weasley twins. I was tremendously glad that they were included in more scenes.
I also have to give a thumbs-up to Fiennes in his role of Voldemort. He was truly frightening and eerily handsome at the same time.
Direction Negative: No matter how wonderful the movie is, their are many gaping holes in it. The movie just left out WAY too many things from the book. It is understandable that they didn't want to cram the entire book into the movie (Since the book is HUGE), but many of the things that were left out were actually quite valuable.
Positive: I love the new director. Here is a director that finally understood that silence is as frightening as noise. Firstly, when Harry went into the maze, all you could see on screen were large hedges, mist, and completely silence that were filled with tension and excitement. This movie just gave me the shivers. Plus, the music score gave the movie more of an edge. I'm glad that the music wasn't entirely explosive in the action sequences as the first three movies.
All in all, the movie definitely meets our expectations. I'll give it a 7 out of 10. The movie is most definitely recommended.