Dark, stylish, growing up

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2005)

That is the overall impression I had coming out of Goblet of Fire. The twists and traps were not as unexpected as I had hoped, but danged if the feel of the movie had not gotten edgier. Up to now I had felt the films were pleasant, but now I might actually like to go there and meet these people. They have grown from 1 dimensional kiddie stories, through 2-D matinÃ©e heroes and into (almost) 3-D people with inner lives and feelings and conflicts.
My biggest problem with the film is the pacing of the story. There is a backdrop plot that never really seems very important. Except it is life threatening! You would think people would care more. The movie is set up around the events in the competition, so the pacing is driven by it. But it isn't driven far. "tomorrow you face the biggest challenge of your life. We can't help you. Get some sleep." The other competitors are cardboard cutouts. Too bad, they would probably be interesting.
Against this is Harry and his friends trying to figure out what is trying to kill Harry, while they sort out their budding emotions. This part was great. As I said, I'd like to know these people and the world they live in. This is where the new people are really great. They have great introductions, diverse backgrounds. One is a world class athlete! And that is all you ever learn. All that setup wasted. I'd have preferred learning more about them and the world of magic than dealing with the competition. But that would have killed all the action in the movie.
Overall I give it a 7. All the pieces are well done. Each performance was fine. the writing had problems but I can forgive them. But the pieces were not put together, and that stopped this film from being really great.