The best in the series so far

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2005)

The Harry Potter series just gets better and better. The first two movies weren't particularly to my liking, but at least the second one tried to include some darker, more interesting ideas. The third movie was absolutely excellent. The new director truly managed to capture the dark, slightly comic feel I've always expected from the Harry Potter books, but the third movie had some disappointing factors, including a confusing plot, loose ends and plot lines opened by the movie but left open, and weak performances from the kids in what were meant to be very dramatic scenes. The fourth installment, featuring yet another new director (Mike Newell, of 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Donnie Brasco' fame,) improves on the disappointing factors that affected the third movie, and is a winner from the start.
It seems to me that director Mike Newell has added immensely to the success of the movie. He was able to go under the special effects and grandiose of the movie, and really focus on acting, drama and characters. The acting from the three kids (Daniel Radcliffe  Harry, Emma Watson  Hermione, and Rupert Grint  Ron) has immensely improved since the third movie.
Radcliffe, who had some dramatic scenes in 'Azkaban' but who didn't quite manage to nail them, seems to have gained control over drama, and proves in this movie that he indeed can act. Watson, if melodramatic at times, does show great skill in the Yule Ball scenes, combining a sort of pre-teen squishiness and excitement with dark, teenage frustration and overreaction. Grint, though, truly shines among the three, as he gets a chance to show his drama chops, instead of being reduced to merely a source of comic relief (although he does have his share  the scene in which Professor McGonagall teaches the students  especially Ron  how to dance, is priceless. Ron's character has also developed nicely, and I like how they showed his jealousy of Harry in the movie. It was one of the aspects of the book that I particularly liked.
Brendan Gleeson brilliantly portrays Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, with such menacing coarseness and brutality; he's practically scarier than Lord Voldemort. Gleeson dominates in the movie.
Another newcomer to the series is the brilliant actor Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes' interpretation of Voldemort is nothing short of brilliant. Like the change in Dumbledore's character, the change of Voldemort's character is an aspect of the movie I was very impressed with. The book makes Voldemort out to be the embodiment of all that is evil on Earth, but the movie takes his character to a different level. Fiennes portrays a chilling and dangerous character, but much emphasis is put on the fact that Voldemort is, after all, human. Albeit a bit deformed, he is still human. This humanity that Fiennes and Newell added to Voldemort takes his character to a whole new level, and makes him far more interesting. Instead of just being a dark lord, he has so many more layers beneath him, similar to Darth Vader's complexity and depth. If they continue in this direction in the next movies in the series, it could prove to be very interesting indeed.
Many people were complaining that the opening of the movie was "rushed" and that many of the sub-plots in the book were removed, such as Dobby and Winky, Madame Maxime being a half-giant, and Hagrid's lessons. Well, first of all, I thought that enough sub-plots were removed to keep the movie flowing while still keeping with the spirit of the book, and keeping the focus of the movie on what is truly important in the book. And regarding the opening I actually really liked it. The unbearably fast pace of the first few minutes of the movie takes you totally by surprise and really throws you in to the world of the movie. You get this feeling of 'wait how did we get HERE so quickly?' I didn't think it felt rushed at all. Moreover, I think that enough emphasis was put on what was important in the first 100-or-so pages of the book, and enough was taken out so that it doesn't feel totally jumbled up and hasty. Another one of the major changes, the maze task, didn't bother me at all. I felt it was an interesting alternate adaptation of that task. The maze is so huge; you really lose yourself in it, with feelings of frustration, claustrophobia, and confusion. It's more like a psychological task than a physical one.
All in all, with better acting, more character depth and showcasing great emotion and fear in the characters, while still keeping up with the dark realism look featured in 'Azkaban', 'Goblet of Fire' is the best in the Harry Potter series so far, with many memorable scenes and an irresistible human side not seen before in the series. I can only hope that the fifth movie will be good, but so far, things aren't looking too good. But, one must remain optimistic.