Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

While Prisoner of Azkaban gets all the attention, Goblet may be even better

As previously mentioned, the Harry Potter films didn't really take off until the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But that film wasn't without its problems - namely, it drags along in the first half, and seems saddled with a plot that isn't fully fleshed out and thus at times confusing. It's also got a lot of missed opportunities: we never actually understand much about how and why Sirius knew when to break out - and for a film with 'Azkaban' in the title, it would've been nice to see the actual prison, if not the prison break itself.

This time out we get Harry competing with three other wizards in the Tri-Wizard Challenge (the reason for there being four wizards in a tri-wizard challenge is explained in the film). But like all the Harry Potter films, there is more to the challenge than meets the eye; once again sinister forces are at work behind the scenes, and it's up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione to figure things out.

The taut script here doesn't have the the plot holes of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which is why I rate it somewhat higher.


The Good: 

• More action than past films
• Here there be dragons!
• David Tennant joins the cast

The Bad:

• why was Fleur back in the contest after failing the underwater challenge?

Stuff to watch for:

• Warwick Davis (again!)
• the band the Weird Sisters (a supergroup created for the film) brings some long overdue rock to the series

Pairing: a big plate of hot wings

The Verdict:
**** out of *****