11.23.05
Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Let me start off by saying that Goblet of Fire is probably my least favorite book in the Harry Potter septology. Sure, it’s right there in the middle of the series and there are some great character developments that happen. Heck, even Lord Voldemort comes back to life, but the book was tedious. Too verbose, incredibly over-written in comparison to the previous and subsequent books and quite the jump psychologically in the series as a student dies.
Having said all of that, I really enjoyed the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here then, is my review:
The Good:
- Cedric Diggory
I think this film really captured his character. His actions and his death are dealt with expertly. Kudos. - Hermione Granger
Emma Watson was wonderful as always, but her performance was particularly excellent this time around - Snape
I loved the scene where Snape kept cuffing Ron on the head, and his confrontation of Harry in his potions closet, after the rendezvous with Karkaroff was spot-on.
The Bad:
- Rita Skeeter
If you’re not going to give us more of her stories or reveal the punny nature of her surname and how she gets her scoops, leave her out. Miranda Richardson was wasted for all of 3 1/2 minutes of screen time - Dumbledore
I don’t dig the pensive Dumbledore, that’s why he has a pensieve (thank you). They make it up in the end with his speech that foreshadows The Order of the Phoenix, but his performance was too timid for me. He’s Dumbledore! - The Soundtrack
Bring back John Williams. His theme was like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy, unimpressive and forgettable score.
The Ugly:
- Lord Voldemort
Ralph Fiennes’ make-up was literally ugly, but also, I kinda imagined Lord Voldemort as being a tad more corporeal (hair, a nose) than that. Or maybe I’m mis-remembering the book, but damn!
The Indifferent:
- Viktor Krum
I thought he looked the part, but I didn’t have the same kind of reaction I did when I read the book. I don’t know, he just seemed not enough involved with the action and the story - Fleur Delacour
I feel the same way about Fleur as I do about Krum. It made me a little sad, because Fleur has a great part in Book 6. Still, she looked the part and had some charisma.
I apologize for seeming overly critical, because I really did enjoy the movie. I just happen to think the source material is not as strong as other Harry Potter books, so I’m naturally inclined to pick nits.
Still, a very good realization of the story, one I’d happily see again and reccommend to others. Maybe not those unfamiliar with the books, because the movies tend to pace really quickly, but to fans and readers.
The gold standard, in my mind, is still Prisoner of Azkaban, both in book form and movie.
Look, if you’re reading this review or visiting this blog, the movie is probably up your alley. This is what we do here: we obsess, we nitpick and we quibble. If that sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to join the fray and start writing here.
At the very least, leave a comment. 
Mostly Muppet Dot Com said,
November 23, 2005 at 4:11 pm
Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Here are the highlights of my full review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over at Blogging Harry Potter:
The Good:
Cedric Diggory
I think this film really captured his character. His actions and his death are dealt with expertly. Kudos.
He…
RavenclawWit said,
November 24, 2005 at 1:20 am
Good review. I have to say though, I wasn’t terribly impressed with Emma Watson this time around. At times she seemed a bit too hysterical. Her performance in the classroom scene was in particular, a little over the top, I felt. She wasn’t too bad though. And I actually liked the soundtrack much better in this film. I really liked the movie in general, as you could probably tell from my review. I totally agree with you about Cedric though. I really liked how they treated him in the movie. Unlike you, I really liked Goblet of Fire (the book), but I did feel that JKR didn’t really develop Cedric’s character enough for us to be particularly upset when he died; they “fixed” this in the film by making his character more personable, and playing up his interactions with Harry. As a result his death had a lot more pathos than in the book.
Ravenclaw o' Wit said,
November 25, 2005 at 10:37 am
I agree mostly. I didn’t like voldemort ether. I mean what happened to red eyes?The movie was ok but it left a lot out.
Michael said,
November 28, 2005 at 7:29 pm
See I am opposite on the book issue… I love the 4th book. Great adventure and wonderful twisting ending. If you think that is verbose, I would be curious to see your opinion on some other books, both HP and outside that world. 5 so far was the only one I saw as verbose, but I thought the story and the continuing evolvement of Harry kept it interesting. Plus the chase in the ministry is still one of my favorite endings.
I loved how Book 4 really signified the end of innocence for many of the characters. This is going to be a wierd comparison, but in a way the arc of the story reminds me of Boogie Nights. The beginning of the film had strife but for the most part it was kind of happy and “innocent” (as innocent as a movie on porn can be). THe first 3 books and most of 4 follow in this same foot step. Yes Harry’s parents had died and he faced some hard challenges in the first 3 books. The spectre of LV is out there, but life is OK. There are incidents, but for the most part Harry enjoys his life at Hogwarts… quidditch, ron and hermione, dating, etc. Once they leave the maze and LV returns, the whole tenor changes. The series takes on a dark deadly tenor, much the way Boogie Nights does after the incident at the New Years Party. LV returns and life goes to Hell. Umbridge and her sadistic policies, Snape’s possible betrayal, the death of Sirius and other ministry people, and of course Dumbledore’s death.
FOr these reasons, I prefer the books after 3. I like 3 better than the first 2 but it is my least favorite of 3-6. I would still say 4 is her best.. (again I question the use of verbose as a criticism of that book), given that 5 is a bit wordy and 6 is mostly a setup for 7.
Of course they are all good books… Every one of them blows their film equivalent away.
aredhel said,
November 28, 2005 at 10:31 pm
My favorites are the first two films. The 3rd was a bit disappointing. I expected more from it as it was my favorite book. It was too much of a comedy.
The GOF was quite good. The first two tasks were great but what happened to the “creatures” in the third task? The Quidditch World Cup scene was too short.
Sauron the Deciever said,
December 7, 2005 at 7:39 am
One thing that got me was how much they cut. They cut Dobby, Winky , The entire match of the world cup, the actual challenging parts of the maze(they completely made up this maze). And what was up with Voldemort. I had imagined a less humen character, and more like the one that appeared on the back of quirrils head, and the acter that did head voldy, with that hissing voice he has. That end with voldemort just seemed cheesy when compared with the other movies and the book. They should have just put in the money to make him more convincing, the baby voldy was good though.
Hermione said,
December 9, 2005 at 4:00 pm
Hay
I’m from Polish. Good blog (?). Come in… my blog: www.hermiona-love.mylog.pl. Bye!
Poziomka said,
July 19, 2006 at 5:11 am
Hej. Jestem z Polski i bardzo lubię Harry`ego Potter`a. Masz super bloga.
Hey! I am from Poland and I like Harry Potter so much! You have cool blog.
(I am not speak engish good. Maybe you write to me and i try to write back. My e-mail: sweet15@autograf.pl ) Bye, bye !