Okay... not so much of a rave. I think this is an important perspective because it sounds like this guy views the films the same way Knowles does... as films. I know that POTTER is a publishing phenomenon, and 90% of the audience for these movies knows the books backwards and forwards before stepping into the theater, but there’s something to be said for the viewer who comes to the films fresh, who simply watched them as movies. Sounds like he was underwhelmed, and it makes me wonder if this one’s going to be considered a backwards step by some viewers.

This last review is the most positive (and detailed) of the ones we’ve gotten in so far. Check it out:

Just got back from (what they told us) was the first screening anywhere of Goblet of Fire here in Chicago. Everyone in the theater was kind of holding their breath, but when one of the monitors said the movie was 2.5 hours, we knew it wasn't Chicken Little. When they announced it was Harry Potter IV, everyone cheered.

It looks really great. I was worried about this one, because the book's so long, and it was hard to see how it would translate well to film, but I think they've pulled it off. I recently read that Mike Newell was going to be building on what Cuaron did in Prisoner of Azkaban, and he has, but he's made it his own, too. It's not so consistently dark. The humor in the books comes through more, and all the kid actors have really improved.

The movie isn't quite finished; they told us at the beginning that if something didn't look right, by the time the movie was released it would be in place, and enough of the special effects were finished that it was more interesting than annoying to see the spots where they were still working on it.

I don't know if anyone goes to these movies who hasn't read the books, and I have a 7 year old HP maniac, so I've got them all but memorized, but I tried to imagine what the story would read like for someone who didn't know the books.

The opening scene is a little skimmed over, so you don't get the whole Riddle family history, and he made the sort of strange choice of having Barty Crouch, Jr. there with Voldemort and Wormtail. It would be a little hard to follow if you hadn't read the books. In fact, my husband, who hasn't been as immersed in them as I've been did find that a little hard to follow. Harry wakes from his dream/vision at the Weasely's house, and is off to the Quidditch World cup in the first 5 minutes of the film. I gotta say, I missed the Dursley's, but I understand why you couldn't have everything. The World Cup scenes were our first unfinished special effects, but we do get to see Harry enter the magical tent, and say "I love magic," and I knew what he meant. I hope they're going to add something of the World Cup, because it skipped from the opening of the game to back in the tent. . . .

As soon as they arrive back at Hogwarts, the Beauxbaton (which Michael Gambon does a true Englishman's pronunciation of) and Durmstrang schools are arriving. The Durmstrang ship looks great. They made the odd choice of having Beauxbaton be an all girls' school and Durmstrang all boys. They really changed Victor Krum's character. He's much more handsome and cocky and little ol' Hermione seems really into him from the start. The championship starts almost immediately. The scene explaining the tournament seemed kind of rushed to me. And Dumbledore got really physical with Harry when he's selected as a champion. In general, I think Michael Gambon has done a much better job with that character, bringing out more of the humor, but that didn't seem to fit at all.

The dragons on the first task are amazing, but most of Harry's fight with it takes place far away from the stadium. It kind of felt more like a car chase scene. It just seemed that in the book part of what was important in the 1st task was bringing the school back around to supporting Harry, and primarily healing the rift with Ron (I told you I'd spent a lot of time with these books. . . .)

Miranda Richardson makes a great Rita Skeeter, and it's a shame that her part was some of what had to be cut back in the interest of time. She's perfect in it.

THe second task is done really well. I do enjoy Rowling's books, but i've gotten the feeling lately it wouldn't hurt her to have an editor with a firmer grip. Newell, like Cuaron, changes the sequence of some events in ways that really improves the tension. Harry gets attacked by grindylows after he's rescued Ron and Gabrielle, so they swim free and he gets pulled down just a little longer. I think it's good to have directors that are a little less reverential than Chris Columbus seemed to be. I'm sure it's also that these directors have more freedom because the kids are so improved, too.

The Yule Ball is well done and all the scenes around it really develop the characters much better. Lots of Fred and George Weasley this time around. (why that family has accents from everywhere in England is not really clear - but Fred's and George's really suit their characters)

The only back story we get on Barty Crouch comes when Harry dips into Dumbledore's pensive, which is a much abbreviated scene, and has Karkarov accuse Crouch, Jr. in open court. That leaves out the whole scary gang of Deatheaters that will appear in 5 and it's NEVER explained how he got out of Azkaban, which is odd given how important it was in 3, but, as I said, it was a 2.5 hour movie. . . .

The 3rd task begins rather abruptly, but it was a cool mix of complete and incomplete effects. The maze looks great, although Krum's behavior is a little thinly developed. Harry says that "he's under a spell," but it's not very clear how he knows this exactly. Cedric and Harry do work well together in all their scenes. The graveyard scene is great. Ralph Fiennes does a really good job in very little screen time. I at first heard that Malkovich was going to be Voldemort, but Fiennes really works. The duel and the way that the spirits of those that Voldemort killed helped Harry could really use just a little bit more work. It was clear that the effects weren't quite finished there, but since there are now no house elves in this version, there's no previous explanation of how you pull the last spell out of a wand.... My husband, who doesn't drive around with Harry Potter on CD in the car, said it wasn't that hard to follow, but I thought it could look more cool.

The final Dumbledore speech on Cedric's death and "Voldemort is back" fell a little flat, but that seems part of working on a series. There aren't really ends. All in all it was a really fun afternoon and I think it's another good movie. Much more actively paced like three rather than the first two. We'll definitely be seeing it again.

My daughter's favorite part: Filch dances with his cat.

I really wish I knew how people got into screenings so regularly; we were just given a flyer at another movie we went to last week, but now I actually have something to send to Ain't It Cool.

You can sign me: Phoebe C.