THE BOOK

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the series and the chronological mid-point of the story. For some weird reason, until my 21st and latest re-read, it was my least favourite book. I don’t understand why right now because it’s a really really good book. The subtext is most apparent so far in this one. Yes, a lot happens in the book, but there’s also a lot that you don’t see, that’s implied, that’s foreshadowed. You can see JK Rowling’s mastery of craft here as the writing becomes even better somehow. Jumping from 300ish pages to more than twice the size must not have been easy, but it accurately represent the maturation of the characters. Each character and plot point is developed in such rich detail that it really adds another dimension to these already loveable characters. I love this book now and it’s my second-favourite in this re-read so far behind it’s direct predecessor, the Prisoner of Azkaban.

THE FILM

★★½ 

Rewatched 05 Jun, 2020

I find this film harder to watch right after reading the book. It’s much harder to judge as a film for me because of this. It’s an ok film in my opinion. Especially after the masterpiece that is The Prisoner of Azkaban. Newell is not exactly an extremely talented director and it really shows. This is the first time (and not the last) where you feel 2 films or a TV Show could have done it so much better. It’s disappointing to see how much disservice is done to some characters and how much is blatantly left out leaving this film feeling like a 3 hour highlight reel to a book with 15 hours of content. Yes, it has all the important plot points, but that’s all it has. It fails to capture the atmosphere of Hogwarts and how Harry feels. The teenage angst is explored and one of the more positive aspects of the film, but even this plot-point isn’t done justice. The Triwizard Tournament is visually interesting enough to keep you engaged but the metaphorical richness of the books begin to get lost as you go through the next set of films. One of my least favourite films because of it’s sheer injustice to the book.