Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) by Ian R — 29 Mar 2015

This is the first film in the series where I agreed with the adaptation from book to film, as I thought it had a better flow. I know that this book was quite long and lots would be trimmed, and I think they trimmed the right things.

I think it helps that the content of this book, the trials, are more action packed and lend themselves to film a little better than some of the previous books. I thought they streamlined the story in a way that it still flowed and made sense on its own as a film without having needed to read the books to fill in gaps.

This film didn't feel like a mad rush recap of the high points it's source material. That said, there was still some rushing, particularly in the opening 20 minutes. And I thought that the feud between Ron and Harry came across short and a little pointless with no major payoff.

..but I also thought that when I read it in the book, so I won't fault the movie too hard. I enjoyed Karkaroff's kind-of-crazed Eastern European sterotype appearance, though I was a little sad that he didn't get just a shade more screen time, though in truth he didn't need it in order for the film to tell its story.

I liked the bit with Snape smacking Harry and Ron in the heads during study hall, which was not from the book. Alan Rickman looked like he had fun with that. I think Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson are aging in their roles well and I think they are doing a good job in their portrayals.

I'm still adjusting to Gambon's Dumbledore over Harris'; I think I still prefer Harris, though I don't know how he would be in the upcoming, more dynamic role Dumbledore begins to play in the later stories.

I loved Fiennes' Voldemort! He made the character feel deeper and more malevolent when he was speaking than I ever imagined in the books. I look forward to more of that. Overall, up to this point, I think this is the best Harry Potter film yet, and I hope the following films are more like this one than the previous three.