Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

We watched the latest Harry Potter yesterday. For all their literary shortcomings, I think the novels are much better than the movies. The latest movie is no exception. Having said that, I should say that the movie is good in parts; several sequences are made very nicely. However, on the whole the movie is not as satisfying as it could have been; may be because, two-and-a-half hours is not sufficient to make a satisfactory film version of the novel.

On any day, I prefer Richard Harris as Dumbledore; Michael Gambon is a very poor substitute - but then, this perception is subjective. Mad-Eye Moody was really cool; he did make you notice him whenever he was on the screen. McGonagall, and Snape are great as usual, though, somehow, Snape did not make you hate him as much as he did in the other ones. The return of the Dark Lord was a let-down; it was not as great as I was led to believe.

The final verdict: good movie - watchable once - but, not very satisfying if you are expecting a nuanced, and more balanced portrayal of things.