[DCA Fan]

Review time.....minor spoiler alert:


So I hear there's a new Harry Potter movie out. The fourth, Goblet of Fire. In a last minute decision, we decided to go see the midnight showing, both for my entertainment in the delirious night and the fact that probably the whole world would be talking about it the next day so I figured that I should stay ahead of the curve.

HPGOF is directed by Mike Novell or something like that, the third director for the series. You can tell that for GOF he enjoyed focusing more on the human interactions rather than the visual magic, which worked well for GOF, seeing as it is the book where Harry and Ron become emo children. However, my praise pretty much ends there. Though the book is very long to be condensed into 2 1/2 hours, it didn't quite justify the chaos that was the first third of the movie. To put it in short, the first part of the film was an utter train wreck, as the movie jumped from scene to scene with no transitions whatsoever, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks. Of course, it is generally understood that many people have read the book and can fill in the blanks, however, the film assumes too much of the reader's memorization of the novel and does not properly explain some of the finer aspects of the book that (at least I feel) are essential for the next film.

The music was pretty standard, nothing all that impressive. The choreography on the entrance scenes of Durmstrong and Beaubaxtons were top notch, I rather enjoyed them. I also enjoyed the entire scene from the Yule ball to the bath scene, which can only be described as "awkward." The film centered a little too much on teenage angst in my opinion, but it ended up working out.

In terms of acting...one, I don't like this new Dumbledore as much as the past one (yes, I realize he's dead). This headmaster didn't quite have the dignity, mannerisms, or voice that are associated with the character. Also, what was with tying his beard up? That was just silly. Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) reaffirmed her status as every HP geek guy's wet dream, and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) had a convenient topless scene for the delight of the girls. I wish they had chosen a better Cho Chung, Katie Leung did not seem to quite fit the part.

On the whole however, this film was a fairly good family film, though elements of gore and death are much more present in this one than in the previous films. It is worth seeing at least once, however in my view, there was quite a bit of tweaking that needed to be done before release that didn't happen.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Flying Monkeys (c)