Product: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Rating: 4.0
GROWING PAINS
As the young actors who play the leading roles age, so do the characters in this fourth installment of the hit series. While I didn't find GOBLET OF FIRE quite as entertaining as the preceding films, it certainly is well made and the three youngsters (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint) are certainly maturing as actors.Director Mike Newell, not known for doing action type films, uses an almost too lethargic pacing at times, focusing on the growing pains of the adolescents as they start thinking about the opposite sex. Meanwhile, the special effects are awesome, the art direction superb, and the musical score soars. The plot is a little too complex at times and some things aren't fully realized, but we do get Brendan Gleeson as the dark wizard; Ralph Fiennes as Lord Valdemont and the deliciously wicked Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter, the journalist with the need to know. I wonder sometimes how Rowlins plans to continue milking what is basically a one note premise (the return of Valdemont and Harry's continued wizardy). Sales of the books continue to rise and the movies are doing well so we'll see. A good movie all around, though.