Goblet makes me want to vomit with rage!!!

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2005)

Mike Newell should replace Voldemort as the Dark Lord.
What's up with the 'Goblet'? In the tradition of Thanksgiving, Warner Bros. has served up a huge turkey for audiences to feast.
The screenplay is AWFUL! But don't blame Kloves, who has heretofore delivered consistently good adaptations of the Potter books. What's different? Director Mike Newell.
I think the term "ham-fisted" would be adequate in describing the translation of "Goblet of Fire" from book to movie. How many plot threads and important pieces of information were left out? What was up with the sudden 15-minute "Dawson's Creek" episode aka the Yule Ball? Where did all the slapsitck Mr. Filch and Snape stuff come from? And come on... that stupid licking tick with Barty Crouch? It had all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. The target audience is beyond the "Teletubbies" and "Dragon Tales" stage. Additionally, there are a lot of unexplained story lines- the complete destruction of 1,000's of tents at the Quiddich Cup, Ron's anger at Harry, Harry's sulkiness at the Ball, Neville's response to the cruciatus curse, Hermione's interest in Krum, Priori Incantatem...the list is too long to continue- questions dealt with succinctly in the book- in the movie, left to the audience to decipher.
People are saying this is darker and grittier- but I didn't see that. Who else was disturbed by the upbeat and cheery ending? Harry saw an innocent person die... I get the feeling that Newell, like Ron Weasley "missed the point entirely". The goriest and most disturbing parts in the graveyard are glossed over and trivialized. So why the PG-13 rating? Partial stained-glass-mermaid nudity?
Newell also failed to pull great or even acceptable performances from most of the cast- and it's not as if he doesn't have talent to work with. You can't blame the actors- all of whom have turned in good performances previously- again, it's up to Newell to pull the great from the bad- I was often reminded of SNL's "Master Thespian" in scenes involving high drama. Oh yeah, I also hated seeing Michael Gambon's violent turn as Dumbledore- dude, you suck!!!
Speaking of sucking- what happened to the music- If John Williams is engaged on another flick, get him back- or at least call him so he can hum a few tunes on the phone! Patrick Doyle's quasi British brass band music was weak and pathetic compared to Williams' knack for melodies and motivic development.
The film also appears to have a lower budget than the previous HP movies. From the lame mer-people and the obviously fake doll-like floating Cho, Ron, and friends to the lack of moving subjects in the paintings, lack of exterior shots.. and didn't everything seem like it was on a small set- the common room, owlery, great hall, etc? Suddenly all more claustrophobic... And who could forget the deflating graveyard scenery? I've seen better mock-ups on old episodes of "Wagontrain". I guess they couldn't afford Winky or Dobby- maybe they should have saved a little money from the god-awful Yule Ball and dragon scenes.
I guess it's Dumbledore who sums it up best- in times when you have to choose between what's right and what's easy- remember what happened to a book that was good, and whole, and interesting- that strayed into the hands of a hack director and a studio that turned movies like "Batman" into "Batman & Robin"... Remember the REAL Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire.