1. While not as good as the previous two entries, it’s still decent enough. Trips along nicely, some good set piece sequences, and some good expansion of the main characters.
2. That being said, this one betrays Rowling’s lack of experience with Bulgaria, which looks like some sort of Nazi/Soviet Russia place here (with breakdancing!) or Ireland, the inhabitants of which wouldn’t be caught dead saying “Top of the morning to ye”.
3. This book is the big break with the child-like nature of the others, and begins the more “epic” streak of the following books. It all starts to get bigger from here. And more adult.
4. This book/film starts the Ron/Hermione romance sub-plot, which will be rammed down the readers throats for the next while. I get the necessity for stuff of this nature, it’s to be expected, but it is clumsily handled repeatedly. The awkward teenage love stuff is horrible to read/watch. I know that, as teenage characters, these guys can’t go through the story without having some kind of attraction to the opposite sex, but I really think it is one Rowling’s big weak points, in that she can’t write romance well. Tellingly, the best stuff she actually writes on that score is the Snape/Lily Potter stuff, which is nearly all in flashbacks.
5. Cedric is an ok character and all, but he’s hyped up big time and it doesn’t quite work. He’s a bit of a dick, and his lack of appearance in the previous books/films mean he’s always just an ancillary character. The mourning over his death at the end lacks weight as a result. I just don’t care about him enough.
6. The other Ron subplot, where he becomes bitter at Harry for his never-ending fame, is really well done I thought, and a logical way to go with the character. They’ll come back to it again, but it’ll never be as good as it is here. The resentment comes from a very real place, and it’s only a pity that it is dealt with so quickly.
7. It’s a great finale, with the return of Voldemort, an excellent conclusion, very well written and very well filmed. That ties into point three above, as the return of the big bad really drives it home that the game has changed.
8. You will never be able to separate Cedric from Edward Cullen now.
Never Felt Better 