"Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right... and what is easy. " - Dumbledore

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2005)

For me, one of the most exciting series of movies is the 'Harry Potter' movies. Being a moderate fan of the books (I read 1-4), I found it hard to read them all. I wanted to, but they are just so long and time consuming. To be perfectly honest, I really don't have the time to read them, so I just go see the films. No matter how long they are they never drag and they always hold my attention which is very, very rare for any film no matter how long. Going to to the latest installment 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', I had extremely high expectations that got met for the most part. I was expecting 'Goblet of Fire' to be so much better than 'Prisoner of Azkaban' since they keep getting better, but actually I found 'Goblet' and 'Prisoner' to be equal in quality. You could say I was a tad disappointed, but even still, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is an amazing motion picture that never, ever had me bored during it's entire 2 hour and 40 minute runtime. I was absolutely enthralled from start to finish.
'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is the fourth chapter in the series. Unlike 1-3, it doesn't open with Harry at home with his evil aunt and uncle and their retched little chunky brat son, but instead opens with a nightmare. The nightmare is Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall - The Last Samurai) the villain of the last film, nursing a weak Voldermort back to health with a strange guy. This sets the stage for the plot of this movie. It's about Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermoine (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) returning to Hogwarts after seeing a Quidditch match. At Hogwarts they are holding a big young Wizards tournament where Hogwarts and two different Wizard schools from across the world are competing. In order to compete you have to be at least 17 years old, and guess what, by some odd-ball chance guess who gets picked to compete? Harry Potter, of course! Now Harry must buckle-up for a dangerous tournament and save the Hogwarts campus once again from a healing Voldermort's wrath.
The plot of every Harry Potter is silly and unbelievable, but that's the point. 'Harry Potter' is a fantasy and feel-good movie, it's not a realistic or ground-breaking film series to any stretch. It's warm, silly, action-packed, dare I say 'family' fun that almost anyone could enjoy. British director Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco) does a great job directing this, in my opinion he's the best director they've had yet. The screenplay is entertaining but leaves out a lot of interesting aspects the book had. I still can't believe they cut out the opening Quidditch match though, but in order to make it fit in a time frame of less than 3 hours they had to make some serious cuts to the 734 page book. Radcliffe is solid as usual, while Grint and Watson are good, but don't have nearly as big of parts as the did in the three previous films. Actually, no one (except Dumbledore and Snape) have as big of parts as in the other films. Maggie Smith as McGonnagall has what some might say a glorified extra and Robbie Coltrane as the giant Hagrid only has about two major scenes. There are three additions to the cast this time around - Brendan Gleeson, Miranda Richardson and the creepy Ralph Fiennes. Miranda Richardson does a good job playing a nosy wizard journalist while Gleeson owns every minute he is own screen in a show-stopping performance as Mad-Eye Moody. Ralph Fiennes is a perfect candidate for the evil Lord Voldermort even if he is only in the film for about ten minutes. You may remember Fiennes as the vile and malicious commanding Nazi in 'Schindler's List'. The fourth Harry Potter installment also has the best action sequences, special effects, cinematography and make-up so far that is sure to pick up some Academy Award nominations come March.
'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is an excellent film, and overall it never ceases to entertain you. I can almost guarantee you when you look at your watch after getting out of theater, you will be shocked at how much time has gone by. 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' succeeds with flying colors in enrapturing you in it's content from start to finish. What more can you ask for in an action movie? Grade: A- (screened at Harkins Cine Capri @ Scottsdale 101, Scottsdale, Arizona, 9/18/05)
my ratings guide - A+ (absolutley flawless); A (a masterpiece, near-perfect); A- (excellent); B+ (great); B (very good); B- (good); C+ (a mixed bag); C (average); C- (disappointing); D+ (bad); D (very bad); D- (absolutley horrendous); F (not one redeeming quality in this hunk of Hollywood feces).