Fire! Fire! YYYYYYEEAH!!

Say it just like this.

I saw Goblet of Fire last night. I REALLY liked it, but I'm not sure what to say that's not going to be full of spoilers.

So I'll go with this for now:

Things I liked:

1) Neville
2) Beefed up challenges
3) Quidditch Cup
4) Mad Eye & The Weasel
5) No House Elves!
6) Narnia trailer

And, to go beyond the list, I liked the writing. I had a great time listening to the dialogue.

Things I didn't like:

1) Lack of Sirius (probably due to Batman Begins)
2) Lack of Fleur (definitely was the short-changed of all the champions)
3) Occasional over-dramatization, but I understood it considering what else they were trying to shove into the script
4) Still no mention of Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs. It will be in the fifth movie, if all things make sense.
5) Superman trailer (gave us more than a teaser would, but less than a trailer would give, which left it frustratingly middle. So we see the costume, but we don't see any of the action, or much of Lois, or none of Luthor.

Other thoughts:

- I don't know if I like Voldemort (not a spoiler, since it's mentioned in the trailer). As my friend CJ said (from a NYT article), "best performance by an actor without a nose." But you could still recognize that it was Ralph Fiennes. I would have liked to have seen him either less makeupey or more sinister-sounding. I still think Jeremy Irons or Rowan Atkinson would have made better choices.

- Introducing Barty Crouch so early was an interesting decision, but it makes sense. Piling too many questions on to pof each other is fine in books, but not in movies. Which is probably why the also got rid of so much Skeeter.

Also, Bart Crouch Sr looked extremely familiar, but I don't know why.

- The best thing I saw them do in the movie is NOT ignore Neville's backstory. That was one of my biggest fears about the film, but they gave Neville more screen time and story time than in all the other films combined. They also beefed Ginny up enough where they'll be ready for the Department in the next book (vague enough to not be a spoiler).

I have plenty of other stuff to talk bout (including three more reviews of toys) but I'll deal with those at another time.