Very disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (19 November 2005)

I just saw the movie "Goblet of Fire" last night. It was not very good.
I think that JK has brilliantly developed her story into a rich and complete tale that reflects the maturation and development of her core audience. Many children have grown up just as Harry and his friends have in the last eight years. Younger fans' capacity for more intricate stories, and more complete, deeper, and complex characters and interactions has been fed in a perfect way. If JK had started with a story like "Phoenix" or "Half Blood Prince", I do not think that she could have achieved such a high level of popularity. She started slowly, and simply. With a world that was quite clearly black and white. Now, characters, very much, explore the shades of grey that signal more a challenging story, open to more plots twists and intricacies.
That being said, I think that the director relied too much on the WOW factor of special effects that did nothing to compliment the characters that JK has developed: A prolonged Dragon Fight. He felt the need to add his own "entertainment" value which did nothing to add to the story: McGonagall's dance instruction class. And he ignored significant story resolution which affects future stories. So much so, in fact, that I wonder if he even understands where the story needs to go: Rita Skeeter and the resolution of her antagonism is practically ignored, but pretty important in "Phoenix". All in all, I think that Mike Newell has left the franchise in a sorry state. It seemed to me that there was a glaring lack of dialogue, and hence, character development. I can only hope that there will eventually be a "Director's Cut" with an extra hour, or so, of movie.
Whatever the case, I did enjoy the movie, for what it was, but knowing that there is so much more to come, I can't help but feel that this movie is lacking in several areas and have problems visualizing how the rest of the series is going to develop after being handicapped by this piece of rubbish. It goes to show you that, in a project like this, consistency needs to be present in the pivotal position of the director. There needs to be a vision to see the project through to completion. Not just a "fill-in" to tell the story that lies between the covers of one book, but instead a deeper understanding of where the story is going, what the significant events are, who the characters are becoming, and why the fans are so ravenous about the franchise. Peter Jackson did it with the Fellowship Trilogy. But this series is in jeopardy with a sloppy telling of "The Goblet of Fire".