Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) by Chingf. — 14 Apr 2007

As a fanatical Harry Potter fan, I cannot give this film a 0 (though I want to). There were many, many errors in this movie, and I believe that has been the worst movie yet. Though CoS was the least well-received, it stuck well to the plot-lines, and the major theme, and POINT of the story.

GOF however, detracted completely from the plot of the book, and boomeranged off into the Forbidden Forest with unnecessary focus on the first task, the "motherly" relationship from Hermione, the Yule Ball event, and the Quiddtich World Cup.

I am not saying that Quidditch should not have been in there -- but if the director wanted to completely cut off the game, then why not cut off the entire sequence in general, and have the Death Eaters attacking the World Cup through the Daily Prophet, while Harry stays at the Weasley's and allows the characters to develop personalities (something LACKING greatly).

Moving on with the character development, let me just say this to Mike Newell, Steven Kloves: YOU HAVE FAILED! Not only were the dialogue delivered cheesy (ahem, "I love magic"? What the f.ck?), the trio seemed like people from Orwell's 1984.

Hermione was this overly protective mommy, and yet, Emma Watson's acting never ceases to amaze us with its poor quality, makes it seem as though her "love" may be borderline sexual. Her eyebrows certainly tell a different tale.

Michael Gambon as Dumbledore could not have been worse, if not, catastrophic -- it destroyed the loving, cool, grace of Harris' work, and made Dumbledore into a confused, blibbering, irrational, untrusting lunatic.

The real dumbledore would have never pushed Harry into a pile of pots/pans/trophies. Though Rupert and Dan seem to be improving (not well, but working hard), Emma is simply embarrassing next to them. The third movie, Prizoner of Azkaban, was my favorite.

Although Cuaron snipped off critical bits of information, altogether, it seemed like a film that followed a plot, a string of events that tied together, and smart dialogue that brought quirky humor (except for the talking heads) and subtle, yet blush-worthy, enjoyable adolescent moments (not like it overboard, and useless in GOF).

The budding adolescence theme in GOF was overworked, and cutting some of it out could have been used to cover some gaping plot-holes. In general, PoA was an artful film, one that seemed like it was delivered by a true film maker, an artist -- NOT some bimbo who could only string a slideshow of events together.

GOF deserves a 5. Perhaps even less. But I'll do it some dignity, as a Harry Potter fan.