Not your average sequel

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2005)

It seems that far too often lately, there have been too many "necessary evil" movies... that is, movies that are made that are okay to watch, but you have to see them to truly appreciate the movie that follows in the series. These movies include the last Terminator movie that was made just a few years ago and Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones.
Fortunately, Goblet of Fire is not one of these movies. How the producers of the Harry Potter movies do this is beyond my realm of understanding. I can only imagine that it has something to do with JK Rowling and the way her books continue to get better and better.
One thing that I really enjoyed about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is probably something that not everyone will notice. In these so-called "necessary evil" sequels, it seems that there is too much emphasis placed on characters that we've seen enough of already. Goblet of Fire, however, gives a chance for some once overlooked cast members to have a larger piece in the film. For example, the Weasley twins have always been bit actors in the series. In this film, they had much meatier roles. (Because I know what happens to them in Book 5, I can see why.) Another great part was the way they showed that even kids with magic powers have awkward teenage moments like acquiring the courage to ask someone to a dance.
However, having read all of the books does pose a bit of a downfall. Ever the pessimist, I'm always looking for ways that the films don't hold justice to the books. With the Potter series, I keep getting things mixed up with what storyline was in which book. I think it was in book 5 where we found out who Rita Skeeter really is and how she gets her stories, but I can't be certain, so I don't know if this was "left out" of the film, or if it was intentionally left for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Also, most people are probably saying "Enough with the Harry Potter thing already- everything is about HIM!" I think it was great the way the producers kept with JK Rowling's feeling of sympathy for the characters who are saying the same thing. You can feel it in Ron's every gesture throughout this film- he's as sick of the attention Harry gets as everyone else is. But then Ron realizes what the audience sees: Harry did not ask for all of this, and given the choice, neither he nor the ones who envy him would want to be faced with such demons.
One thing I wasn't crazy about was the mannequins that they used for the underwater scene. They could have been done better.
Pessimism aside, I would see this film over and over. I really loved the way that it was shown and each actor performed above par. Ralph Feinnes was fantastic as Lord Voldemort, and it was nice to see people that we don't get to see a lot of, like Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and the twins, as well as new characters like Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang. And even though we did not see a lot of Maggie Smith's Professor McGonagall and Alan Rickmam's Professor Snape, they served their purpose and did what they needed to do to move the story along without hogging up all of the spotlight.
Overall, it was a great coming of age film with drama, suspense, and humor.