Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

As a general rule, my wife and I don’t get to go out to the movies like we used to, a fact that can be attributed entirely to our one-year-old son. After all, nobody wants to be the person in the theater with the screaming child. Perhaps he’ll have enough attention span in a few months to allow us some return to our old passtime, but in the meantime we’re stuck with video rentals.

Since my son was born, my wife and I made only one exception to this rule, begging and pleading with family members to watch him for a few hours so that we could go see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Like so many other people, my wife and I have both read all six books and have gone to see each movie release as religiously as we did for Lord of the Rings. I am often astounded by how much entertainment intended for children can enthrall us adults as well.

At any rate, I wasn’t disappointed. If anything, this latest installment of Harry Potter is better than its predecessors, marking one of the few exceptions to the rule that sequels are always worse than the originals. The Triwizard Tournament is just as exciting as in the book, particularly Harry’s battle with the dragon. My wife and I were both taken aback by how polite Voldemort was when he was finally restored, but maybe we were perceiving him as more sinister than he was actually portrayed in the book.

I don’t want to give everything away for those who might not have seen it, but take it from a huge Harry Potter fan that this movie is more than worth seeing. If you enjoyed any of the other movies even marginally, you will love this one. I give it five stars.