Potter always great, but its just not Azkaban

Rating: 8/10 (16 November 2005)

Well, the wait is over. The fourth release in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, directed by Mike Newell arrived at the big screen November 18.
This year Harry (Daniel Radcliff), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are now 14 years old and find themselves not only exploring magic, but dating as well.
As the movie begins, Harry is having nightmares about devious meetings that are causing his scar to bother him more than ever before. He attempts to brush off these premonitions as they begin their fourth year at Hogwarts.
Upon returning to their beloved school, the head master announces the Triwizard Tournament and introduces the additional schools that will be participating.
However, due to the life-threatening and grueling tasks to be performed during the tournament, only those 17 years and older are allowed to be considered  technically this excludes Potter.
The tournament turns out to be more than the school and its participants bargained for with ancient beasts, underwater demons and magical mazes. Of course, like all Harry Potters before, nothing is as it seems.
Along with the Triwizard Tournament Hogwarts is hosting, also comes a Triwizard ball. This proves a difficult task for all three as they struggle with whom to bring as dates.
First of all, when it comes to rating this movie, it's Harry Potter so it just can't be bad. However, this particular one just did not measure up to its predecessors.
The very first two hours of the movie was great with all of the magic and conflicts you can expect from the series, but the end fell sort of flat.
A few major issues that have been lingering since the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as new prominent issues, did not get the recognition they deserved. I would like to explain myself a little better, but I don't want to give away major plot points in the movie. I only hope these issues are addressed further in the 2007 release of Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix.
Overall the movie was pretty good and deserves eight out of ten stars. It's not as good as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban or the Sorcerer's Stone, but the kids, families and Harry Potter fanatics alike will enjoy this present day classic. It's definitely one to add to the DVD collection  like all the rest.