Viewed – 25 February 2017  Blu-ray

As we come to this fourth entry in the popular saga, we’re pretty familiar and comfortable with the cast as we watch them grow up before our eyes.  This time around a Quidditch World Championship introduces proceedings and it’s here we see the world that J K Rowling has created open up as we’re introduced to several rival schools and a few new characters.  Add to this a prestigious Triwizard tournament that Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) gets unwittingly thrown into and we have a rather eventful entry.

Along the way there’s some rather luke-warm melodrama, with a spat between Harry and best friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) feeling forced and some romantic stuff with Hermoine (Emma Watson) that moves away from what seemed to be a blossoming romance with Ron previously.  However the several trials of the Triwizard tournament are exciting, with a brilliant dragon encounter as well as a tense underwater sequence.  Yet once we realise there’s a return of an old enemy on the cards, it becomes clear this is more of an in-between movie readying up for bigger things (hopefully).  Performances across the board vary in quality, with Radcliffe not really developing much more personality as these movies progress.  Rupert Grint’s Ron is also a bit more mopey and less fun than previous.  Robbie Coltrane is disappointingly side-lined this time but this is made up for by an enjoyable Brendan Gleeson and snarling David Tennant.  Less said about Robert (Twilight) Pattinson’s appearance the better though.

This was all still entertaining, and that final act is wonderfully tense and surprisingly scary.  Production values throughout are also impressive.  However a rather stretched out, unfocused story lets the side down and isn’t helped by poor character moments that fail to be all that compelling.  I have a feeling though from here on out it’s going to get pretty dramatic.

Verdict:  3 /5