MuggleNet | Goblet of Fire Film Reviews

First of all, I have to say that I have seen the movie three times so far, my latest being last night, and it is IN NO WAY my intention to discourage you from seeing it if you haven't already. It's an important thing to mention since some of you might disagree with some of the points that I will make here.

There's a very funny trend that I have discovered in people who watched Goblet of Fire. My friend and I left the midnight show absolutely convinced that this was the best HP movie so far and that it had been very well accomplished in all counts; exactly what my friends in other time zones had said when they saw it. Once I had some time to let the excitement settle, however, realization of the bits and pieces that were left out sank in and I started feeling like I was majorly cheated on.

I'm not going to give a movie outline as I think Carrie has already done that quite well. I am, however, going to focus on the things that were changed/deleted and how those affect the final product.

The dream scene was very well accomplished. Frank Bryce meets expectations, and even though many people were quite upset that the writer had had the nerve to just put Barty Jr. in there, he just had to find a way to introduce him if there were going to be no houseelves. I think it was done o.k.

Fast forward slightly to the QWC camp site . I haven't heard anyone complain about how it was set up, and personally I think it does look like it's described in the book. I was, however, very upset that they had made the Weasleys go to the highest part of the Stadium. Leaving aside the tickets-from-work-meeting-Narcissa-finding-Winky-hearing-from-Dobby-Barty-stealing-the-wand portion of it (major plot point in the book), it doesn't make the movie any better. Oh, and while we are at it ... why were Ron and Harry supporting Bulgaria? Kudos, however, on the design of the omnioculars. Leprechauns and veelas were also taken out, but that was perfectly ditchable as Fleur Delacour's charm apparently works only on Ron.

Hogwarts Express . I have to say that I loved the way that Harry and Cho "meet" on the train. At the end of PoA I was left wondering whether they'd just remove her completely from the plot, but I'm glad that they managed in a way that is not too awkward and doesn't completely contradict canon.

The arrival of the schools and the beginning of the Tri-Wizard Tournament . The Filch moment is absolutely hilarious, even if it doesn't add much to the actual movie. The producers have got to think of both the little kids and their parents who got unwillingly dragged to the theatres, don't they? I think that Beauxbatons being all-girls and Durmstrang all-boys doesn't hurt the plot at all, and neither does their arriving for the Welcoming Feast instead of Halloween. But what the hell were Kloves, Newell and Gambon thinking with Dumbledore manhandling Harry? I can probably understand that Gambon didn't read the book (I mean, he didn't HAVE TO, I'm not even sure he's ever said he did) ... but Kloves? According to JKR he's the living person that knows more than anybody about the story ... I can't believe they just went ahead and did it that way. I also was rather displeased with the "essence" of Sirius's chat with Harry. Sirius is the one person that wouldn't just brush Harry's worries off with simply "it's just a dream". And Harry just doesn't seek comfort about his dreams and scar twinges, he wants them to be taken seriously.

The four tasks (including the unexpected one!). There are a few minor things here that in my opinion shouldn't have been changed but again, don't kill the movie per se. Most fans agree that the whole Dean-told-Parvati-that-Seamus was taking Harry's and Ron's fight a step too far. Then, Ginny doesn't really hang out with them at Hogwarts, but that's a license they have taken from the second movie on, I guess. The Patil twins shouldn't be both in Gryffindor, and Parvati doesn't hang out with Padma, but with Lavender Brown (kind of important point in HBP). The scenes from the first task were very well accomplished, although having a Hungarian Horntail smashing towers at Hogwarts certainly doesn't classify as very safe; and I don't think Hagrid would be too happy to see one of his favorite creatures getting killed like that. Again catering to the younger audience, I guess.The ball was fantastic, the Great Hall looks superb and Hagrid and Madame Maxime dancing look beyond cute.

The second task, to put it quite bluntly, delivers perfectly. The atmosphere in the lake, was awesome. The magical creatures, Krum's incomplete form of Transfiguration, the Bubblehead charms of Fleur and Cedric were all very visually satisfying. My only complaint is that Cho Chang under water looks more like a Madam Tussaud creation than like the lovely Katie Leung.

In the third task, much as I'd like to have seen the Skrewts, I understand that with all Care of Magical Creatures classes gone it wouldn't have made any sense. The sphinx scene, likewise, was necessarily cut because otherwise it'd have messed up with the fast pace of the movie. And again, it's not relevant to the plot.

The graveyard scene. Again, this was a very satisfying bit of the movie as far as visuals are concerned. The baby-Voldemort was really terrifying (although the book does say that is is a "dark, raw, reddish black"), and the coldness of Cedric's death was dead on target. I loved Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, slits for nostrils and all. Enough said. But I do think that they could've at least gathered a few more Death Eaters ... surely Voldemort had more supporters than that? The only real complaint that I have here in the visual aspect is that the bodies emerging from Voldemort's wand could have been a bit more solid.

Moody's office . This was Mike Newell's chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans and he turned it down. All the flaws, changes and adaptations that he chose to make in the movie could've been overlooked if the had found the time to get this scene right. Who can honestly see Dumbledore just let Barty Jr. go with a mere "I have no time for heroes"? No motives, no explanation, no clarification of any kind here.

What I can say to wrap this up is that soon the time will come for David Yates to choose between what is right and what is easy. When such time comes, he would do well to remember Mike Newell and the Goblet of Fire.

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