A grade of B in the case of a Harry Potter flick seems like such a cop out, I admit. You may be thinking, here’s one more critic dodging decisiveness by declaring The Goblet of Fire neither, in words the British wizard-in-training himself might use, brilliant nor rubbish.

And get ready, because here comes the corpulent queen of all cliches: the book is better than the movie. But of course the book is better – it’s 734 pages, while screenplays tend to not be much longer than 200 pages.

However, it’s not the omission of details and subplots that annoys me. At this point, the Dursleys, Harry’s vile aunt, uncle and cousin, are old hat, and can easily be snipped from the film entirely. Hermione Granger’s quest for house-elves liberation was never a terribly interesting one, so its inclusion is far from vital. So what is missing exactly?

Leaving a recent screening of Domino, I remember one critic remarking, “Keira Knightley just doesn’t have ‘it.'” While I think it may be too early to close the book on a 20-year-old actress, after Goblet, the fourth film in the Harry Potter septilogy, I think it’s as fair a time as any to say the silver screen rendering of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world does not have that elusive “it.”

I don’t for one minute buy that Rowling’s novels are unadaptable. Might Steven Spielberg, who a while back considered taking the helm of the first Potter film, have made these films unforgettable rather than just memorable? Why is it that the, uhm – magic, as it were, just does not seem to translate from page to cinema screen?

Some moments in director Mike Newell’s (Four Weddings and a Funeral) new film come close to matching the tone of the novel. The teen angst of the now-14-year-old fourth-year Hogwarts Academy class that includes the trio of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) is fabulous in its innocent awkwardness.

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry and the gang learn the school will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament as well as students from two rival schools. Along with three others, Harry’s name is mysteriously chosen out of the magical Goblet of Fire to compete despite the fact he is not of age to participate in the perilous events and never submitted his name in the first place.

Harry, in typical teenage fashion of misplaced priorities, is vexed less by the life-threatening perils of the tournament and more by the traditional tournament Yule Ball. Harry and Ron, the latter looking like the Corpse Bride in his old-fashioned dress robes, attend the formal only after scurrying to secure dates at the last minute.

When Hermione shows up with brutish Bulgarian tournament contestant Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) at her side, the dance Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) so prudently described as “well-mannered frivolity” ends up bringing out feelings of misdirected jealousy and anger from the three teens.

The Triwizard Tournament consists of three events, which I will try not to spoil too much (suffice it to say the end of the credits read, “No dragons were harmed in the making of this movie”). Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) later reveals strong finishes in first and second events allow contestants to begin the final event, an enchanted hedge maze, sooner. In this regard, think of the Triwizard Tournament as an episode of American Gladiators – the last event, “the Eliminator,” is the one that counts. And trust me, the hedge maze, with its shifting walls and violent vines, would make Gemini, Laser and Turbo all soil their tights.

The new additions to Hogwarts are welcome ones. Brandon Gleeson’s Mad-Eye Moody tricks and treats with his creepy magical eye that can literally see through the back of his head. And Miranda Richardson is delightfully duplicitous as Rita Skeeter, witch journalist, complete with floating pad and quill.

Goblet is certainly the darkest film in the series that promises to only grow more sinister. Yet the scary scenes could have done more to really warrant that new PG-13 rating. Time and buildup are the lubricants that make chilling scenes work. But because the film had so much material to tackle, it couldn’t do these moments justice, even with the haunting Ralph Fiennes adding just the right amount of spook to the human version of archfiend Lord Voldemort.

Having seen the third installment as a Harry Potter neophyte myself, I can tell any Potter newcomers that the fourth film is equally watchable in and of itself. But if you are one of these Harry Potter newbies – someone who thinks Sirius Black is a rapper in last week’s 50 Cent flick – I would suggest picking up Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone in paperback along with your ticket to go see Goblet. You’ll thank me later.

Contact reporter Patrick Gavin at gavindbk@gmail.com.