Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

With the third movie being butchered completely, but still being a good movie and well-acted, we now come to the 2005 film adaptation, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” At the time, this was my favorite book in the series. Each book got better and better as it went, and this one is no exception. In this film, the Harry Potter cast members are showing very well that they are hitting puberty. However, it still has the scariness and darkness that is being turned down in this one. Harry is in the Triwizard Tournament and he has to fight a dragon, mermaids, and for the very first time, comes face to face with Lord Voldemort himself. This film was so scary that it went from PG to PG-13.

For the first time, the Harry Potter series is directed by a British director, Mike Newell, who you might remember directing such classics like “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Donnie Brasco,” and “Enchanted April.” This might shock everyone, but he turned down directing the first movie. Ebert stated, “Such varied notes serve him well in "Goblet," which explores a wide emotional range. He balances delicately between whimsy and the ominous, on the uncertain middle ground where Harry lives, poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss.” With the Triwizard Tournament, Newell really brought the darkness that was described in the book to life in every detail. There were stuff in the book that he didn’t include in the movie, but it was still scary and entertaining to watch.

The new faces we see in this film include Brendan Gleeson as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody. Ron states at the welcome dinner, “They say he is mad as a hater these days.” I would have to agree with Ron because this guy really has a strange side of him that seems to be very revealing early on. However, he does help Harry out in the Tournament, since he has been entered in the Triwizard Tournament, and he didn’t even put his name in.

Now the Triwizard Tournament is a tradition that has been held where Hogwarts competes with two other schools in a series of three very dangerous tasks. These two schools are Beauxbaton and Durmstrang. Hagrid finds love in the Head of Beaubaxton, Madame Maxime, played by Frances de la Tour, who is a giant. Suits for Hagrid since he is half-human, half-giant. Predrag Bjelac plays Igor Karkaroff, the head of Durmstrang, who was previously a Death Eater but changed his ways. He seems to be a very nice guy, but he's also very hostile when he needs to be. The three students who participate in the Triwizard Tournament along with Harry include Fleur Delacour, played by the very lovely Clémence Poésy, who becomes Ron’s older brother, Bill’s love-interest, Viktor Krum, played by Stanislav Ianevski, who Ron’s a huge fan of in Quidditch, and Hogwarts very own, Cedric Diggory, played by the actor who put audiences to shame by acting in “Twilight,” Robert Pattinson. Diggory helps Harry out later on in the movie and they become good friends.

One actress, Miranda Richardson, plays gossip columnist for the newspaper, the Daily Prophet, Rita Skeeter. Let me tell you, you really want to slap this lady in the face when she gets the details wrong about Harry. However, she doesn’t really play a huge part in the movie. You’ll have to read the book in order to see what happens to her. Speaking of stuff left out in the books, in the beginning, Harry is already at the Weasley’s, when in the book they come and get Harry via the Floo Powder. Also, at the end, Harry doesn’t really show the sadness of Diggory’s murder. Spoiler alert: Diggory dies in this film, so watch out since this is the first film where a cast member dies. In the book, they show that he is really guilty and is distressed by it, but they don’t focus on that too much in the movie.

Remember when I said that this film shows the characters hitting puberty? Well that is shown very well in Ron, and in the fact that the Yule Ball is coming up. This feels like a High School flick, but an enjoyable one. Harry has to find a date, and he finds a love interest in Cho Chang, played by Katie Leung. You would think that Harry or Ron would end up with Hermione, but Harry finds love in Cho. Leung is a very well-done love interest. She likes Harry and supports him through everything that he has to do. She’s perfect for Harry’s first girlfriend, and maybe the only girlfriend.

Finally we have Ralph Fiennes playing Voldemort, who really knows how to play a villain, doesn’t he. He did play a villain in “Red Dragon” and “Schindler’s List,” so it would come easy for him to play a villain. He really brings the depiction of Voldemort from the book to life in the movie, and he really does an outstanding job. Richard Bremmer voiced him in the first movie, since Voldemort was shown on the back of Quirrel’s head, in the second one he is in his young form, played by Christian Coulson, but this is the first time we see him in the flesh.

Unlike the last three, this film takes out the entire nice childish feel and shows some really adult, gritty, dark looks. The action in this film isn’t pointless, but is there for a reason since our four main heroes in the Triwizard Tournament are facing some real daring challenges that they have never faced before, and may never again. It’s like when soldiers go off to war, they have seen stuff that we have only seen on the news, or in our nightmares. It’s enjoyable to watch and keeps you at the edge of you seat from beginning to end.

Now that the Harry Potter series is turning darker with each film released, how will the fifth film be? Will it be butchered like the third film, or like this one, you didn’t care for certain stuff left out? Only one way to find out: stay tuned for tomorrow while we continue in the “Harry Potter-a-thon.”