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I think my problem with the first two films is that they are the straighest of adaptations, and are addressed in tone squarely to the kiddies.
The recent film, while also filmed quite "straight" could not manage to be a straight adaptation simply because so much of the book had to be left out due to time constraints. The tone seems to me to be very adolescent, which I suppose is appropriate to the age of the characters.
I love the third film so much because it was a very stylistic adaptation, and had a tone suitable, imo, to both young adults and adults.
Although Goblet of Fire is the only one of the film series to date to feature scenes that aren't even in the lliterary source material, it's Prisoner of Azkaban that seems like a looser adaptation ... more suited, imo, to a movie experience than the page-filming style of the other three films.
I think Goblet is a mess, storywise. But it suceeds mightily on the strength of its character-based comedy ... something you pretty much have to get around to once you're on the fourth film with these characters.
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