Movie Review: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Just got back from the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"; the audience was excited, the movie was beautiful, and I ended up somewhat disappointed.

The first two movies seemed to mostly be the "setup" -- you were being introduced to the characters, and there was a sense of a "stand back, I'm going to do magic" feeling to them. The third movie, Prisoner of Azkaban, was, and remains, the best of the series. This one, I felt, was kind of a step backwards.

The book on which the movie is based is very good -- and very long. I had heard that the initial plans were to make it into two movies; release one at Thanksgiving, and the next four weeks later. That would have been the right move. Even at 2 1/2 hours, this movie leaves out so much that anyone who had not read the book would be hopelessly lost -- and those who did read the book will be disappointed with what was left out. Not to put in too many spoilers, but the maze scene in particular was lacking much of what made it such an exciting read.

Don't get me wrong -- if you're a Harry Potter fan, the movie is worth seeing. The actor who plays 'Mad-Eye' Moony stands out in particular, and Dame Maggie Smith has an expanded roll, which can't be bad. Just don't go in expecting to feel the movie will add anything to the book experience, like POA did. I can only hope that they'll get Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón back for the sixth movie (David Yates has already been announced as the director of the next movie, due in 2007).

More later, perhaps, after I've had time to digest it (and get some sleep... the alarm goes off in two hours).

Bell-ringer 2013 19 Nov: Ninme has her review up; she liked the movie, didn't like this particular movie-going experience so much.