Good, but not quite Azkaban quality

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2005)

I must admit that if I was going to do a Harry Potter film, I would think that the ones that would be the most exhausting would be numbers four and five. Why? Because of the mass of characters that need to be fed into the machine in order for it to be a coherent storyline. Fortunately for HP fans, Mike Newell does a pretty good job, with only the occasional slip up.
The great thing about Goblet of Fire is that it is the book that truly turns the series on its head; with the idea of a dark foreboding evil becoming fully realised and Harry's destiny becoming more than just magic and wands. The script is handled well, with the story continuing to adhere closely to the books, with the cutting out of a couple of peripheral characters, allows the story to move quickly and efficiently from scene to scene.
The new actors are all very good, particularly Brendan Gleeson as Moody and David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr. A special mention should also go to Ralph Fiennes who played Voldemort with a very reptilian sort of menace ( he didn't so much move as swooped ) that gave the Dark Lord a quality that is totally unique. His performance helped to really move the film along in the closing stages. All the other actors performed their parts with the usual aplomb, and Michael Gambon has moved beyond Richard Harris to become a new Dumbledore, one that although may seem a little gritty for this film ( though he was still very good ), will suit Dumbledore perfectly in films to come.
There were however a couple of things that seemed to irritate me in the movie. For starters, the Yule Ball scene went for too long. It was an event that was important in the scope of the moment, but it really had no consequence on the rest of the film. Secondly Gary Oldman as Sirius Black should have been used more to flesh out the characters of Karakroff, Moody and Barty Crouch instead merely appearing for ten seconds in a fire. Perhaps the scene on top of the mountain in Hogsmeade would have been better to see than the one in the fire, despite the absence of special effects. Thirdly some characters seemed to merely peter out instead of finding out what happened to them; Rita Skeeter disappeared off the face of the Earth, Draco seemed to have nothing to say about the return of the Dark Lord and the relationship between Fudge and Dumbledore if one had not read the book at the end was anyone's guess.
But I may be being overly critical as the book is incredibly difficult to do, and for every irritant, there are 4 cool things to make up for it. The Potter series rolls on in good stead, with Harry's destiny before him.