A fun yet somewhat lacking roller-coaster ride

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2005)

When I heard about this movie I my first reaction was: "how in the world are they going to fit this book into a movie". The fourth installment in the Harry Potter series (the book that is) is probably the most complex and dense of the series, so distilling it into a movie certainly wouldn't be easy without losing a lot in translation.
Much more than the other Potter movies, "The Goblet of Fire" is an action blockbuster. The emphasis in the movie is clearly on the spectacular trials that make of the Tri-Wizard tournament, and, granted, these have been translated to the screen in an astonishing way. The special effects are among the best, the action is riveting, and there's plenty of suspense.
Also, I have to say that this movie was the first genuinely funny Potter movie. While the other movies have sometimes been good for a couple of chuckles, the middle part of "Goblet of Fire" is a complete hoot, and finally does the humor of the books justice.
All this comes at a price though. In order to fit everything into a movie of manageable length, a lot of comprises have been made. The story has been simplified quite a bit, and a lot of the details that make the books so great have unfortunately been omitted. Having read the book, I could follow the plot just fine, but I suspect that without prior knowledge, it would be quite easy to get completely lost.
Also, everything moves at such a breakneck pace that it's really hard to keep up: one dangerous situation isn't over yet, or another one has already presented itself. Sure, it makes for a great roller-coaster ride, but ultimately also for a rather shallow one, since character development is not one of the movie's strong points, and ultimately it's hard to really care about characters don't really know.
In this of artistic quality, this movie probably falls somewhere in the middle. It's not nearly as good as the hugely atmospheric and superbly made third part, but it's still a huge improvement over the rather pedestrian first two parts. Also, the acting could still use a little work. Ralph Fiennes is great, but a lot of the other admittedly great actors are underused, and the rest of the acting is passable but nothing great.
All in all, this is a good, but not a great, movie in its own right. It's a tremendously fun, if shallow, thrill ride. Compared to the book though, there's definitely something missing.
***1/2 out of *****