Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

Now that Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix is already out in the movie theatres, I felt the need to watch fourth film, since I still had not seen that one and like with all trilogies or longer, I like to come prepared. I have read all the books though and love each of them dearly. However, besides the first film I'm not too fond of the movies so far. The big reason for that is the fact that I've read all the books and as with almost all book adaptations, the movies are never quite as good as the books. This is especially the case for the Harry Potter series. The books are perfect. They feel very complete, full with little details and descriptions and no movie can capture the whole spirit of the books. Added to that is that the books are kind of big too. Lot of things happen to Harry and his friends and many different characters get involved. So like with the other films, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire feels rushed. And just as the books get bigger with every part, the films feel more rushed every part. This time everything goes amazingly fast, especially when you remind yourself of the scenes in the books. For instance the Quidditch World Cup at the beginning of the film is over before you even realize where exactly it is Harry Potter and his friends are. This all feels strange, especially because it all starts very exciting, filling the viewer with expectations. The same is done with introducing new characters like Rita Skeeter. Everyone who has read the book knows she plays a big part in the story and for me she was the most interesting new character. So when the film showed her for the first time I immediately got excited thinking about how great her character was in the book and the great storyline she had. In the film Rita is introduced making a picture of the four school champions and then she interviews Harry, of course making up a lot of the story by telling lies. But that's it. After this she vanishes. However in the book she has a big storyline which is really cool. Because she keeps writing stories that aren't true she eventually drives Hermione crazy making her take revenge for all the damage Rita's done. But in the film there's nothing of that. Also no character development. Ron and Harry have a little fight, but it's over before it even starts. In the books it all takes longer. And that's the problem of reviewing a film like this when you've read the book. 'Cause all in all the film looks really good. The special-effects are great and the dragons look impressively real giving the film some of its most exciting moments during the school tournament. So if you haven't read the book I guess you think the movie's really good. But if you have read it, you feel it misses a lot of the book's magic and the film's full of gaps explaining almost nothing.

What is it about?

Harry is in his fourth year at Hogwharts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but before he gets to Hogwarts he has a dream about Lord Voldemort. Not quite sure what it all means he goes on to attend the Quidditch Cup together with Hermione and the Weasleys. Everything seems to be alright and the group has lots of fun until one night something happens outside of the tents. Harry and his friends are woken up and rush to get in safety. The Deatheaters, Voldemorts followers, have arrived and have started a riot. Fortunately the three friends make it out safe, but there's no doubt Voldemort's back and Harry's in danger. When they finally arrive at Hogwarts professor Dumbledore informs the students about a school tournament that will take place this year at Hogwarts together with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The tournament is only meant for the elder students, making it impossible for Harry to get involved. However, when the goblet of fire reveals who the champion of each school will be, Harry's name appears, even though Cedric Diggory is already chosen to represent Hogwarts. This makes not one, but two champions for Hogwarts. Risking his life, Harry has to compete in three challenges with danger at his side now Voldemort finally has returned.

Final Verdict: ***

Even though I'm not totally satisfied with the outcome, the film is nice and looks great. It just isn't cool they left so many big parts out. And after watching it I came to realize how little screen time Hermione and Ron had. They almost didn't seem to have any big part in this film as the focus was mainly on the tournament and its challenges. Also there was almost no Hargid or Malfoy. All this shows how much better the books are, even though the movies are fun to watch. I like that the three friends are growing up both in character as in real life and I'm still really looking forward to Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix. Hopefully they really do justice to Dolores Umbridge (so far I've heard great things about Imelda Staunton's performance which even is said to be Oscar worthy) and my favourite character Sybil Trelawney. I guess it will also feel rushed, but if they don't chop out all of the big storylines it could be a really nice one.