Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005): Harry finds himself selected as an underaged competitor in a dangerous multi-wizardary school competition.

After the very modern Harry Potter in the previous movie adaptation, this forth one follows as close as possible the novel, cramming a lot of information into 2,5 hours.

Despite the long running time, they managed to leave out some important information (like Hagrid is a half giant), and at times I felt the succession of scenes didn’t flow well into the next.

I was also a little bit disappointed by the two vehicles from the foreign schools. They didn’t look as majestic as I pictured them in my mind. I was also sad to see that Delacour was basically ignored, only playing the role of the weak girl that needs saving. In the book she had a stronger personality.

Another cliche’ was the way Barty Crouch Jr was depicted. Why does he have to behave like a crazy snake? I really disliked how his tongue kept moving like that.

And finally I was disappointed by the way Voldemort is portrayed. Why was he walking and moving as if he were a madman escaped from a nut-house? Instead of feeling intimidated by him, I felt like laughing at him.

Another little logistical annoyance was Harry’s hair. I didn’t like the length of it, but I understand that was what they went for. However the problem is that the length changed from scene to scene, and one time they looked like a very bad wig. I would think they could have done a better job on their main character!

It’s very hard for me to judge these movies separate from the books, but whereas previously my rating for the movies corresponded to my enjoyment of the books, in this case I must say the movie was disappointing given that I liked the book better than all previous ones.

Rating: 2.5 Stars