After hitting a peak with last year's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the wildly popular Potter series takes a dip in quality with its fourth installment, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Although Goblet is still a fine example of popcorn entertainment and guaranteed to delight fans, it lacks the suspense and urgency of Azkaban, and has sometimes jarring shifts from its explorations of adolescent coming-of-age to its high-concept set pieces.
At the core of it all remains Harry (Radcliffe), now entering his fourth year at magical boarding school Hogwarts, supported as always by his buddies Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson). The film opens with an attack on the Quidditch World Cup by followers of the evil wizard Voldemort, whose return is foretold by a recurring dream of Harry's.
After that, it's off to Hogwarts, where the school's attention is focused on the Triwizard Tournament, a high-stakes competition with representatives from three schools of magic. Naturally (or perhaps via the machinations of an unseen enemy), Harry is involved. The tournament is the main focus, though plenty of secondary attention is given to the main characters' raging hormones as they enter the throes of puberty.
The main problem is that however exciting the tournament's events are, they don't carry the same sense of menace and foreboding Azkaban did, with its constant threat of a deranged, escaped wizard coming after Harry. Here, the main concern is whether Harry will win the fancy tournament cup. It's not until his prophetic dreams lead to a Star Wars-esque showdown with Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) that there's any real feeling of danger.
Director Newell, taking over from Alfonso Cuaron, does a workable job with the story, pared down as usual from the unwieldy J.K. Rowling novel by screenwriter Steve Kloves. But Newell doesn't bring the gothic flair that Cuaron exhibited, and he seems more at home with teen angst than big spectacle. Since the Potter series is really just a metaphor for growing up, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and watching Harry, Ron and Hermione navigate the school dance is as entertaining as watching Harry go toe-to-toe with a dragon. Think of it as a sort of Sixteen Wands, and you won't be disappointed.