Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Review by Peter T. Chattaway | posted 11/18/2005
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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MPAA rating: PG-13
(for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images)
Genre: Fantasy
Theater release:
November 18, 2005
by Warner Brothers
Directed by: Mike Newell
Runtime: 2 hours 37 minutes
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Brendan Gleeson (Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody), Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter), Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall)
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Things get more emotional, and more intense, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is the fourth and middle installment in J. K. Rowling's seven-part series, and it is, in a sense, the fulcrum on which the entire saga rests. Each of the previous stories concerned a mystery that took place over the course of an entire school year, but despite a few loose threads here or there, the mysteries were basically resolved in the end. This new story starts off as just another adventure, more or less, but by the end, the situation faced by its protagonists has become much darker, and much more dire. If the previous films were like the lull before World War II, when Hitler built his army and everyone hoped nothing would come of it and life could go on as before, this film marks the invasion of Poland, so to speak. There is tragedy, and death, and we know things will get only worse.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione are much more grown up in 'Goblet'
However, there is also humor, and life. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is 14 years old now, and his passage into adolescence is believably awkward and full of surprises. Goblet of Fire is directed by Mike Newell—the first British director to work on this series—and it is somewhat reminiscent of his best-known movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral. While the central romance in that film was pretty blah, the supporting cast, and the engaging circle of friends that surrounded the Hugh Grant character, frequently stole the show. Something similar happens here; while Harry's trials remain front and center, with mixed results, most of his schoolmates get chances to shine that ought to keep their various fan clubs happy. In a way, these characters are more entertaining than the actual story in which they live.
Speaking of the story, the book Goblet of Fire is nearly as long as the three previous books combined, but the film version had to be the same length as the others. (In fact, Chamber of Secrets, at 161 minutes, remains the longest of the bunch.) That means Steven Kloves, who wrote all four screenplays, had to hack out some major subplots—such as the one in which Harry's brainy, principled friend Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) begins a house-elf liberation movement—while cutting others down so severely they end up going nowhere, leading you to wonder if they should have been dropped, too. Chief among these is the one involving Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson), a gossip columnist who spreads false rumors about Harry and his friends in the wizarding world's major newspaper, The Daily Prophet.
Among the terrors chasing Harry is a fire-breathing dragon
When we first see Harry, he is attending the Quidditch World Cup with Hermione and the Weasley family, including his friend Ron (Rupert Grint). The festivities are interrupted, however, by the Death Eaters—a cult of cloaked and hooded villains who once followed the Dark Lord Voldemort, and who continue to make mischief in his name. Harry escapes, with help from the Weasleys, and makes his way to Hogwarts in time for the beginning of the new school year. And there, he learns that Hogwarts has been chosen to host the Tri-Wizard Tournament, an international competition in which one young British wizard will compete against champions from wizarding schools in France and Eastern Europe.
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