Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Review

Before I start this review, I should re-name this film, "Harry Potter and the Journey of Hair Continuity." Yes, everyone's hairstyles can be a little distracting in this film (especially on the Weasley brothers) But look back on your yearbook in 2005 and try not to cringe at the hairstyle you had. I sure do. Anyways, The Goblet of Fire has gotten a reputation for being a mess among fans. I personally have never read the book so I cannot judge on that front, but what I can say is that this entry does suffer from Bi-Polar Tone Issues. This has the biggest contrast between the light-hearted fun and the dark gruesome scenes in the whole series. One scene will involve a giant attack on the Quidditch World Cup followed by Ron Weasley being amazed by girls' butts. The storyline involving Barty Crouch and the Death Eaters is actually a pretty interesting one but it takes a back seat for most of the movie for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the Winter Ball Dance segment that takes up almost 1/3 of the movie. The Tri-Wizard Challenges are entertaining enough and all the teenage sexual tension is fun to see and gets some great laughs, but it doesn't flow as nicely as Prisoner of Azkaban did or even Chamber of Secrets for that matter. This is what happens when you hire the director of "Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time". SPOILER ALERT... You know this one was coming... Cedric Diggory's death is so hard to watch. It's brutal! It always gets me in tears. END OF SPOILERS. Although this film is not as good as I once thought it was, there are still some very entertaining parts. The additions of Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort and Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody were some of the best casting choices in the whole series and the Dragon Battle was pretty exciting. I just wish it had more focus on its story and tone instead of focusing on scenes like Moaning Myrtle trying to catch a peek at Harry's... Magic Wand... Sorry, It was too easy.