Quite good adaptation of my fave book

Rating: 8/10 (16 November 2005)

Goblet of Fire is my favorite of the Potter series because he's clearly out of his depth in the tournament but bit by bit he survives. I can certainly relate to that.
I like the pruning done to shorten the film. I would have liked to see those pruned moments if possible, but I think what's left is pretty darn good. It's not art, but it's very solid entertainment.
All in all I'm eighty percent happy with the film (would want it longer, but as it is, I enjoyed it very much).
The things I love about Goblet: how they continued the look of Cuaron's Hogwarts, that covered walkway, the mountains and lakes. I love Brendan Gleeson's Moody, and I love the new battle in the first trial. I also like the interaction between the kids now, they seem to act like real British kids, with their idioms. After all, an American has been writing the script. I think Newell is emphasizing the Britishness of everything.
I also love the moments given to most of the characters. They may not have WRITTEN lines, but they do have memorable scenes, like the Weasley twins, or Cedric Digory's moments when he shows he's not just a handsome hero but actually a decent guy, or Snape pulling back his sleeves shortly before reprimanding Potter and Weasley. I think these are Newell's specialty.
Some minor complaints: though I praise the movie on its choices of what to omit, I do complain about the pace; it's just too quick. Yes, I "get" most of it and I am entertained and not helplessly confused, but everything seems to be such wonderful and yummy eye-candy, and even some of the more dramatic moments are quite good, that it makes me want to slow things down and savor. I'd understand scarfing down a fast food burger to get back to work ASAP, but it doesn't make sense to swallow whole a Chateaubriand and that's what this movie makes me want to do. I wouldn't mind another thirty minutes, honestly.
It's going to take some time before I can decide which I like better, Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire. I like the bold direction Prisoner had taken the series, and to me, Goblet only seems to continue it, though Goblet does this well. I like the feeling that Prisoner is less "stuffed" and "rushed" than Goblet, though Goblet's story is my favorite of the books (and I still prefer "Goblet"'s story even in the movie version over "Azkaban"'s movie version of the story).
About the next few films, I like Order of the Phoenix the least, but I'm looking forward to the adaptation of the Half Blood Prince, and more Alan Rickman, yay!