Review 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

As the heroes get older, the series becomes darker and the storylines more complex, making Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire another winning entry in the series.

Based on the fourth book in the Harry Potter book series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, When Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns for his fourth year at Hogwarts school, his name emerges from the Goblet of Fire and he becomes a competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, a dangerous magical contest held by the three largest Wizarding schools. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of Lord Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes).

 

Of all the Harry Potter films to date, the Goblet of Fire is the one that adapts the book the least successfully. Everything just feels choppy and disjointed. Scenes feel like little vingettes that were edited together at random particularly when Harry, Hermione and the Weasley’s are going to the Quiddich World Cup at the begining of the film only to cut to ther aftermarth right as it's about to start. It's a cheap gimmick that's used to work around expensive effects heavy sequences. It's also darker and more complex

The plot is tremendous and everything you could want from a fantasy film, it's also darker and more complex and we get a sense of bigotry and the re-birth of Lord Voldemort is a twist no one saw coming and we know from then on nothing will be the same.

Where the Goblet of Fire falls short is in its storytelling, given that the book was at the time the longest in the series, a certain amount of trimming was all but guaranteed. Certain scenes feel rushed and the pacing choppy at times. The central mystery and the Triwizard Tournament are very involved 

The First and Third Tasks differ greatly from the book, with Harry’s duel with the Dragon goes way beyond the enclosure and around the school grounds. 

Of all the Harry Potter films to date, the Goblet of Fire is the one that adapts the book the least successfully. Everything just feels choppy and disjointed. Scenes feel like little vingettes that were edited together at random particularly when Harry, Hermione and the Weasley’s are going to the Quiddich World Cup at the begining of the film only to cut to ther aftermarth right as it's about to start. It's a cheap gimmick that's used to work around expensive effects heavy sequences.

Director Mike Newell's directing is precise, bringing a strong sense of the cinematography is majestic, the special effects are astonishing, the score by Patrick Doyle is marvellous, the production design is sensational, the lighting is terrific, the action is spectacular, all three Tasks of the Triwizard Tournament are top notch from an extended chase sequence with a Dragon, to a breathtaking underwater challenge with Harry having to fight off merpeople and Grindylows; Culminating in a Maze challenge that , the make up is amazing, the costumes are breathtaking and the ending has a wonderful sense of

The acting is the  in the series, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson step into there adult selves effortlessly. This film provides trials that stretch Harry to his breaking point. 

Harry and Ron’s relationship fell apart across this film due to Harry once again receiving the spotlight when he didn’t ask for it.

In a school filled with people whose distrust Harry’s claim that he didn’t in fact submit his name in the Goblet of Fire, Hermione is one of the few people who believes that he didn’t and sticks by his side.   

Brendan Gleeson is powerful as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, an ex-Auror appointed by Dumbledore as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Moody is very much a gunslinger with a wand; a wounded animal whose many years of catching dark wizards have taken a toll on him and he now suffers from severe PTSD. Gleeson brought a wonderful mixture of ferociousness and humor to the role. 
 
Miranda Richardson is hilarious as Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter. But ultimately gets lost in a sea of talent. Rowling dedicated an entire subplot to her in the book but in this movies, she's mearly reduced to a throwaway comic releif character.

Stanislav Ianevski, Clémence Poésy and Robert Pattinson are formidable apponents for Harry playing fellow Triwizard Champions Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory respectively.
Out of the four champions, two of them representing Hogwarts    Fleur is a bit of a Miss Perfect, she's the Queen of Beauxbatons. 

Out of all the champions, Pattinson definitely impressed playing Cedric Diggory: Cedric is one of those characters that could easily have been a cocky, arrogant jerk thanks in no small part to his admittedly good looks, talent and popularity amongst the Hogwarts students. But deep underneath all that, he's shown to be one of the kindest and most selfless students in the school who's also unfailing courteous, fair-minded, kind, brave and ernest who treats everyone around him with respect and believes in fair play.
He's practically the living embodiment of qualities of Hufflepuff House. Over the couse of the film, Harry envies Cedric because he's essentially a better looking, more popular version of himself. Cedric, on the other hand, seems to be above Harry's petty feelings of competition and jelousy.
Cedric is hardly the person you want to be competing against either in the Triwizard Tornament or in romance. Pattinson brought a likeable, everyman-esque charm to role

Ralph Fiennes is perfectly cast in the role of Lord Voldermort. Although we caught glimpses of him in "the Philosipher's Stone" and a younger version in "the Chamber of Secrets", we sse him in full onscreen in this instalment. The most impressive aspect of his performance is how calm, collected and charismatic he is the role. Wormtail and other Death Eaters could be cowering in fear of him in his presence and yet he remains as cool as a cucumber. It's his calmness that makes him all the more scary. 
Fiennes brought the right amount of imperiousness required to make him come across as a threatening menace. Voldermort is someone who has no sense of love.

This film also features the first onscreen appearance of Voldermort.

His role in the film (as it was in the book) is a real game changer for the series going forward.
One that is guaranteed to have massively severe ramifications and consequences for the our characters and the Wizarding World.
It's like Dumbledore said "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy"

Unfortunately the one weak link in the cast is Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore; Gambon’s portrayal of the Hogwarts Headmaster is the furthest thing from his novel counterpart. Whereas in the books he’s pretty much always calm and rarely raises his voice, in this film he’s shouting or sounds agitated. Notable is the scene where Harry’s name comes out of the titular Goblet, he screams Harry’s name and throttles him against a wall of Trophies with little to no provocation. He actually assaults Harry in the process, it’s not true to his character and it’s something the Dumbledore of the books would never do. Even taking the books out of the equation, they’ve built up Harry and Dumbledore’s relationship so well over the course of the last three films that bringing that relationship to this breaking point just feels wildly out of character.
 
Special praise has to go to David Tennant as Barty Crouch, Jr. one of Voldermort's most loyal Death Eaters. He only has about three scenes of screentime but he steals every one of them. He’s just sick and so insane in the role. Tennant plays him very much as a deliciously evil guy.

 

Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Mark Williams, Robbie Coultrane, Timothy Spall, Jason Isaacs, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Alfred Enoch, Devon Murray round out the films stacked cast in with noteworthy performances.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a monumental experience, 4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.