Worst of the lot, and that's saying something.

Rating: 3/10 (4 January 2008)

If I hadn't previously known this movie had been adapted from a book, I would've expected to come here and find a trivia item stating: "filming started before the script was finished." There's no storytelling here - it's just a collection of scenes put on film so ineptly that one must have read the book AND watched all four prequels IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO VIEWING! Assume that you're about to see an intelligent, engrossing tale which stands on its own as far as emotional investment goes... and you'll be as lost as I was.
The first two HP movies were decent fare, although clearly geared to younger fantasy fans. And I'll admit - it'd been a while since I saw the previous installment in this 'septilogy'... but ten minutes into this film I was seriously starting to wonder - a) if I'd somehow missed the last one; or b) if I'm going senile 40 years too early. How lazy can a director get? I knew all the characters, general histories and motivations; the settings were familiar; and I knew the basic plot from seeing the trailers... but I had not a clue as to what in the blue blazes was going on. I had to stop the DVD, go online and check to make sure I'd actually seen "Goblet of Fire". Cripes!
Do not pay money to see this - especially if you've never read the books! Halfway through the movie, you'll still be wondering where it's going. There is SO much wrong with this film, not least of all the length -- it must've taken four hours for me to stagger through this dreck, what with all the clarity-rewinding, sleep-resisting coffee-brewing, and sanity-requiring break-taking.
I could keep ranting on, but you get the idea. Now, since almost no movie is *perfectly* lousy, and since I give this one 3/10 (for the visuals and general theme) I feel I should say something positive. Okay, hmm... I'm positive I'll never watch this again. (Hey, the good comedy isn't free.)