Good, but...

Rating: 6/10 (23 November 2005)

I waited with great anticipation for this movie and, sadly, was disappointed in the overall production.
The greatest factor in the books and movies thus far has been the characters and their development. This movie focused on the action scenes, and though very well done, neglected and even changed basic personalities of some characters. As an example, after the names were drawn from the goblet and Harry's was amongst them the following scene shows Dumbledore rushing into the room, grabbing Harry and shaking him while yelling, "did you put your name in?". That was so very wrong of director Mike Newell! Didn't he even read these books? Dumbledore is NOT a raving lunatic; it's his calm, quiet, intelligent way that personifies his character.
The book really wasn't focused on the tournament; it focused on Voldemort and his quest for power. The scenes with Sirius, which further enhances the character development were cut but for the fire scene. If I had not read the book, I would not have understood anything that was happening. Another issue I had was with the early "tell" of who the real bad guy was. Every other movie keeps you guessing throughout and questioning yourself and your choices, but this one gives it away immediately when Moody does the tongue thing with Barty Crouch. Why they bothered to bring in just a small bit with Rita Skeeter I don't know unless the director is a friend of Miranda Richardson and wanted to bring her in the movie. If I hadn't read the book, I would have been wondering what the bird was doing on the windowsill.
The worst part was the end. There is no scene, as in the book, with Harry telling of who he saw at the graveyard with Volemort (incriminating Malfoy & the rest) the head of the Ministry of Magic refusing to believe it, Dumbledore saying that they are alone and must make people hear, and Dumbledore explaining why Harry saw the spirits of his parents and others during the battle with Voldemort. Instead Dumbledore tells him something to the effect that he didn't see them or they weren't there and the scene at the gathering when he speaks to the students telling them what really happened to Cedric Diggory.
As I said, the tournament was well done, but the movie missed the mark by not bringing the important factors of the book into play. The rise of Voldemort and what that entails was only briefly touched on which is what the story was about. Hopefully, Chris Columbus can be brought back to properly direct the rest of the movies.