Harry and the gang return in J.K. Rowling's fourth cinematic installment, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Based on the popular fantasy book series, "Goblet of Fire" opens with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and trusty sidekicks, Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, respectively), at the Quidditch World Cup, a championship tournament in which witches and wizards around the world compete in a game played on flying broomsticks. The scene starts off on a happy note, the trio and Ron's family finding their way onto the campgrounds, which resembles a magic-enhanced Woodstock; however, the mood quickly changes tone when chaos erupts on the campgrounds. Followers of the ever-elusive villain of the series, Lord Voldemort, start marching around with skull masks, torching tents and killing innocent witches and wizards along the way. Fifteen minutes into the movie, the series shifts from happy and playful to dark and serious.

Later the kids return to their magic school, Hogwarts, to start their fourth year. This year, they discover that Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament, a tournament in which champions from three schools compete in three dangerous magical tasks. Hogwarts students 17 and over along with students from the competing schools, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, each puts their name into the goblet of fire, a fiery artifact that impartially chooses champions from each school.

A champion is chosen from each school; however, a surprise pops up at the end of the ceremony: a fourth champion is chosen as well—14-year-old Harry Potter. Everyone is shocked. Harry is branded as a liar and cheat but swears he had nothing to do with putting his name into the goblet. As a result, a rift forms between him and his best friend, Ron. Teachers are concerned for Harry's safety but the game coordinator allows the boy to compete. The movie shifts more and more into the shadows.

The movie ends with the final task, a hedge maze the four champions have to navigate to find the tournament cup, thwarting dangerous obstacles along the way. The two Hogwarts champions, Harry and Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), find their way to the cup but are transported into a graveyard. There, one of Voldemort's followers uses his own flesh, bones of Voldemort's father and Harry's blood to resurrect the fallen Voldemort to his formal, healthy self. After a grueling wand duel, Harry manages to escape with a message for his fellow students: the dark lord has returned.

Visually, the movie is remarkable. Watching Harry escape the Hungarian Horntail dragon in the first task of the tournament is a heart-stopping rollercoaster ride. The wand duel between Voldemort and Harry at the end of the movie is also nothing short of spectacular. The merpeople in the second task did, however, look a little too computer-generated.

The movie's fast-paced plot is its main shortcoming. Too much information without a lot of explanation is given to you at once, like details of the Quidditch World Cup and the love triangle between Ron, Hermione and Durmstrang chamption Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski). If you're an avid fan of the Harry Potter series like me, you'll have no trouble keeping up with the plot. If you're not, then hope the geek decked out in robes sitting next to you will be kind enough to explain what's going on.

Another problem viewers may have with "Goblet of Fire" are the slight variations from the book. Screenplay writer Steven Kloves chooses to leave out the house elf Winky entirely. Also, he changes Dobby from being the one that helps Harry out with the second task to classmate Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis). Although book four was my favorite in the series, I felt the slight changes weren't too drastic and necessary for time constraints. If we were to keep every detail from the book and plug it into the movie, we'd have a five-part mini-series on our hands.

The acting, like a fine wine, gets better with age. Ron's twin older brothers, Fred and George Weasley (James and Oliver Phelps), provide great comedic performances throughout the movie, dialogue that also slightly varies from the novel. Radcliffe, Watson and Grint also show growth and maturity.

Overall, "Goblet of Fire" is a dark but must-see movie of the fall season.