It's hard to say what exactly was missing from this film that would have made me like it better. I did like it, but I definitely felt it was the weakest of the series so far. For the first twenty minutes or so I felt that it was moving very slowly and I wasn't very interested, while the rest of the film felt decidedly rushed—there was hardly enough time to introduce the other three Tri-Wizard champions, much less develop them into real characters. On top of that, I thought that a fair amount of the direction—especially the cinematography—just wasn't up to snuff. I continued to like the actors as much as I had in the previous films, but something about the camera work felt . . . I don't know, a little forced, maybe. I think my biggest problem, though, is with the new Dumbledore, Michael Gambon. I remember when I saw the first film, I wasn't completely in love with Richard Harris' Dumbledore. He didn't really seem to capture the image I had of this bumbling, slightly confused old man who provided a fair amount of comic relief in the books. What he did get right, though, was the sense of gentle wisdom and kindness that my Dumbledore had. Gambon, on the other hand, has neither of those. He's too loud and angry-seeming to be Dumbledore to me. I imagine that I'll just have to put up with him, though. Other little touches I didn't care for were things like the boys' haircuts and the fact that Professor Flitwick seemed to be quite a bit younger than in the previous films. Despite all of my complaints, though, I did like the movie overall. I just hope that the next one is better.

Viewed: 2005-11-17 | Released: 2005-11-11 | Score: B

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