Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: The real hero of the fourth Harry Potter film isn't the teenage wizard but screenwriter Steve Kloves, who has magically transformed J.K. Rowling's bloated, 734-page novel into a more swiftly paced, entertaining script. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Goblet has enough sense of real kids maturing and believably facing problems to cast some genuine spells. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's not until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that a film has successfully re-created the sense of stirring magical adventure and engaged, edge-of-your-seat excitement that has made the books such an international phenomenon. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fourth in the fantasy franchise, is the most fun and the most fraught with conflict. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Though the special effects in this film are often breathtaking, the real drama is here is exactly where it should be: in a young man's frightened but resolute eyes. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the happily satisfying film adaptation of the fourth book in J. K. Rowling's series. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Exactly what fans are looking for, offering eye-boggling spectacle and lots of well-executed action scenes. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The fourth and most boring entry in the franchise. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: It's downright scary how good this movie is. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Goblet offers its own brew of wondrous chimera combined with the wonders of human nature. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: The special effects are first rate but I think it's always going to be about the characters. And they're great characters. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Goblet of Fire is more effective in these smaller, more intimate moments than in the bloated bombast of its larger set pieces. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Goblet of Fire is indisputably the best movie in the franchise thus far. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: Whenever it hits its stride, it's a well-acted, vividly executed, full-speed-ahead special-effects extravaganza that puts as much bang as possible into every remaining scene. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: The fourth installment (yes, it never ends) in the series about the little wizard with the round glasses grows so violent and ghoulish that it drains the appeal of stories that are best when they stay innocuous. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: There's a darkness on the edge of Hogwarts, and its name is adolescence. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: A marked disappointment after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, this fourth installment in the franchise is a 157-minute holding pattern. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: In its last third, The Goblet of Fire builds to a climax of such overpowering dread that you might just forget the rest. Harry grows up in an instant, and the film does, too. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Frankly, the entire film felt like the cinematic version of Hamburger Helper -- too little meat trying to do too much. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: There's ample reason to stay with this series. When Harry says 'I love magic,' you believe it. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Newell deftly mixes in sweet teenage angst and lighter moments of physical humor. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire does have its quota of antic marvels. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: A movie that assures us that the journey we are on will be worth the time and emotion that's been invested in it. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The film follows in the fantasy tradition of stretching perceptions of the possible, and it does so in a richly realized and recognizably human universe. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Adolescence is no less sticky a situation for multibillion-dollar movie franchises than it is for young witches and wizards, and what is a Part 4 if not the cinematic equivalent of those awkward tween years? Read more

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: The visual magic of the story, as well as some enormously welcome glimmerings of humor, gives it the solid feel of a well-tended franchise. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Radcliffe is literally and figuratively growing into his role, while Watson shows greater fire and depth. And Grint's rubbery charm is intact. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Kloves has streamlined J. K. Rowling's 700-plus-page opus into cinematic fighting form. And the special effects, which threatened to overwhelm the first two movies, are seamlessly integrated. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: What will allow the remaining films to prosper, is the words that we hear at the start, from an elderly caretaker: "Bloody kids." Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: Goblet shifts effortlessly from dark to light to dark again. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Harry Potter has become a rare cinematic constant -- something to be anticipated every year or two. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: [Newell] balances delicately between whimsy and the ominous, on the uncertain middle ground where Harry lives, poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's hard to resist. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: It balances the exhilaration of independence -- one of the great joys of growing up -- with the sobering realization that being a grown-up means there's no one around to protect you. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: It's always a treat to see what big-studio-franchise cash can produce in the way of top-flight British (and Irish) actors. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The strongest film of the bunch. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Easily the most involving of the movies so far. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Screenwriter Kloves deserves a tip of the wizard's hat for cutting Rowling's immense tome (636 pages) down to size, and for keeping the story moving despite a surfeit of characters and incidents. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Not just an efficient babysitter but a wizard of a movie. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Goblet is deliciously dark, wickedly funny and superbly mounted. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: It's scarier than the previous three movies and more poignant. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The filmmakers keep the narrative screws fastened tight, which gives The Goblet of Fire an intensity that rarely flags. Read more

Ed Park, Village Voice: To this viewer and reader, the decade-old juggernaut is as deeply felt as it is flawed, dense and illogical and laudably weird. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is probably the most engaging Potter film of the series thus far. Read more