Loved it, with reservations

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2005)

I loved the new Harry Potter Movie (Goblet of Fire) and this is despite some things I didn't like or agreed with.
I loved the British humour. I loved that Fred & George Weasley got more speaking lines and were the hams the way they were in the book - they stole the scenes they were in. I thought the director made wise decisions with little things like Ginny having screen presence and portraying Cedric as a favorite. The special effects were phenomenal, almost on the same level as Peter Jackson's Wing Nut Film LOTR movies. The dragon, (OMFG), was awesome! Goblet of Fire is easily the best eye candy of fantastic effects of all the Potter movies. The Myrtle/Prefect Bath scene was exactly how I imagined it as I read it the first time in the book. Although I was disappointed to not see the other champions fighting their dragons, the extension of Harry's battle with the dragon was worth it. And was it just my theater or did they not show the miniature version of that Chinese Fireball dragon? The Yule ball scene was great. Everyone was pretty to look at. I think Dan Radcliffe does an excellent job of being Harry Potter. The other scene that awe struck me was the graveyard scene. Ralph Fiennes did a great job portraying Voldemort and I thought the director showing the importance of Voldemort being able to touch Harry was a big clue into what is to come with the upcoming books.
The things I had issues with:
Mad Eye's eye needed to be more menacing. I wanted to hear him repeatedly shout CONSTANT VIGILENCE to the students.
The acting of Emma Watson. I thought she overacted her scenes. (Although I thought her tragic scene on the stairs after the Yule Ball was classic teenage drama). I also think all the movies so far is portraying Hermione as being the one level headed friend Harry has, but this is not true. The screen writer is delegating Ron as slapstick, bitter and lazy and it just annoys me.
The fact that they can't slap green contacts on Dan Radcliffe. Harry (from the book) has green eyes and they should have changed it because I was so reminded of Lord of the Rings when I was watching the movie - it seems the close up shots of Dan Radcliffe was projecting Elijah Wood's Frodo Baggins.
Dumbledore being very off character from how he is portrayed in the book.
Fleur was supposed to be head-turning gorgeous. She was a beautiful actress; they should have played up her looks.
If I didn't know the book, I would be lost with the strange somewhat emotional intense wand battle between Harry and Voldemort. And Dumbledore's whispered priori incantatem was not good enough of an explanation to me. Harry should have said, huh?
Even though I had issues with the adapting of the book to this movie, it is still worth watching in the theatre. There were cuts made to the storyline that was understandable (it was a 700 page book) but I disagree with characters and scenes they chopped, switched, and massaged (Dumbledore, Priori Incantatem explanation). HP Goblet of Fire has an epic fantasy feel to it that any sci-fi/fantasy fan will appreciate. I think my favorite movie in the series so far is Prisoner of Azkaban (for the storyline  its my favorite out of the series, unique direction, better transition between scenes and an overall stronger impact).