Too abbreviated for me, however...

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2005)

what did make it to the screen was pretty awesome. I had prepared myself that a lot of the things I loved in this book would be missing when I heard the decision to make it one movie, and under 3 hours at that. I thought it couldn't be done. Well it wasn't exactly, this was basically a "best of" Goblet of Fire, but even still, it works.
Things I loved. The first task in the Triwizard Tournament is one of the best action sequences ever. Honestly. People of my generation who grew up on Star Wars and Indiana Jones should love that as well as the rest of the Triwizard Tournament. But this scene in particular was what movies are about. If producers want to know what will make people leave the comfort of their homes and widescreen TVs to spend too much money on tickets and $7 popcorn, it's this scene. So producers, watch this movie and look for the scene with the dragons and do more of that. I'm a movie buff and I was blown away by it.
I was impressed with the effects. I'm just realizing it now but it's the first time I haven't noticed anything that looked iffy. I think I forgot there were effects.
The acting was mostly great except for two characters, I really don't want to point out who to make anyone feel bad, but in both cases it was some major overacting.
The final task in the Tournament. And you thought 'The Shining' had a scary maze. And for those who have read the book the scene within that scene is awesome. Perfect casting getting Ralph Fiennes. I think it's the first time I'm 100% happy with the casting of any of the HP roles.
Some things that weren't so hot. Barty Crouch, Jr. I don't understand how anyone who hasn't read the books understood what was going on with him. But when you have a movie moving that quickly through lots of information it's bound to happen I guess. And speaking of moving through quickly. the opening chapters were condensed into what amounts to a montage. Which makes this a good time for me to bring up the fact that there were no house elves. I love Winky in the book, but considering what Dobby looked like in CoS maybe we were better off. Although I always felt they'd play a part later on down the line, so we'll see if not including their subplot was a good idea or not. I also don't think anyone could tell from watching the movies that the girls from Beauxbatons were anything more than pretty girls. There wasn't any magical attractiveness implied as far as I can remember.
As far as everything else goes, it was really good. I can't believe that I got over all of the missing stuff but the big scenes were so terrifically executed that I can't help but let it slide. The score I didn't really notice that much. The costumes were okay, I think in this day and age the girls would have had better prom dresses, but Ron's dress robes were priceless. I think this movie should appeal to those who enjoy action movies as well as Potter fans. It should definitely have a larger audience than the previous three.