Fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series have swarmed theaters to see the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and have been greeted with special effects wizardry and, after some brutal editing, a product true to Rowling's vision.
While the 600-page novel might seem impossible to condense into a film of a mere two-and-a-half hours, only the details suffer while the rest of the book remains largely intact.
If you've been following the Potter craze without reading the books, in this film it will catch up to you. Some of the larger plot cuts will leave you in the dust. If it's been some time since you last looked them over, you'll get the most out of Goblet of Fire and barely even notice most of the omissions. Comparison to Cliff's Notes aside, fans who see the film without the fourth novel fresh in mind are probably better off than those who have recently recalled every detail. Those paying attention will notice some conspicuous time cuts.
For one, Dobby and Winky the house-elves are missing, along with the entire S.P.E.W. subplot. While the absent house-elves go largely unnoticed (and un-mourned), the extremely shortened Quidditch World Cup proves something of a letdown after seeing the breathtakingly rendered stadium.
There are some changes, too, to the Triwizard Tournament. Fans won't remember the lengthened and edited fight with the Hungarian Horntail, and the conspicuously quiet final task may conflict with memories of the book.
The majority of the film should be true to the reader's impressions, if not the sundry minutiae of the novel. It captures excellently the darker mood of the fourth book, and fans should be pleased to find that the more sinister scenes, especially the final confrontation, are faithful to Rowling's work.
While the ambience is just right, some characterizations may not be quite as fans imagined. Victor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) is appropriately dark and brooding, but Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) falls short of the readers' expectations of beauty.
Other major personalities seem hit-or-miss in the fourth film. Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) fits the bill, being intense but not overbearing. On the other hand, Michael Gambon seems to be two books early with his characterization of an irritated, confused and edgy Dumbledore.
James and Oliver Phelps deserve special praise for their portrayals of Fred and George Weasley. The comic pair seems to have appeared out of nowhere to have a large chunk of well-deserved screen time.
The central figures of this novel -- Harry, Hermione and Ron -- all deliver convincing performances. They run the gamut from being appropriately heroic to positively obnoxious as the film runs its course. Purists will be glad to know that the angst from the novel is indeed present in the film, although some fans may want the drama to give way to more action.
In the end, the fourth Potter film pleases the casual fan with a rendition that does justice to the concept of the novel, if not each word. Fans unfamiliar with Potter will be promptly lost, those with inflated expectations disappointed. But those fans who have fond feelings but not a fanatic attachment to Rowling's boy wizard will find themselves repeating one line spoken by Harry as they leave theaters: "I love magic."
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