Overall Rating: ****
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire @ IMDB
Synopsis:
In his fourth year, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself as an unwilling participant of an ancient competition between three rival schools of magic. But something else is amiss. Unexplainable events at the Quidditch World Cup herald the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), but what does he want with Harry and what will he do to get him? Can Harry survive the three dangerous tasks of the Triwizard Tournement? Will he get a date to the Yule Ball?! Things will change in year four at Hogwarts.
Review:
I’m going to start by truncating the titles to make writing this review a little easier. I’ll drop the Harry Potter and the from the titles. I’m not trying to make a big fuss over what the “true” title of the movie is here. I’m just being technical I guess. Plus I’m trying to save myself some typing. Also, most people who are considering this movie already know what happens. I’ll assume for the most part that you do to, but I’ll try my best not to ruin it for those who don’t. At any rate lets get in to it, shall we?
It is important to note that I have read all of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. I’m a serious fan and I love the details. Its all in the details. I have to give credit to Rowling here for a rather engaging and complex plot she’s put together and I eagerly await the seventh and final installment. Having said all I that, I did not like Prisoner of Azkaban, but I did Goblet of Fire. These were my two favorite novels in the series so far, so I’m pretty critical of these movies.
I really think Goblet of Fire won me over visually more than anything else. Though the movie was darker than any of its predecessors, the screen wasn’t literally darker. This was one of my complaints with Prisoner of Azkaban, all the imagery was to dull/dark. The colors and effects in Goblet of Fire really brought things alive on the screen. There is a lot of action in this movie and that’s something that helps it along. The three tasks keep the audience’s attention for a big part of the movie.
One thing that I didn’t like is that the movie really does not bring across the mystery that exists in the fourth book. Rowling put together a fairly interesting plot, but we get a really watered down version in the film. They chose to show the culprit in the first scene (a difference from the novel). The audience doesn’t have much to do to solve the mystery and it isn’t much of a WOW when the culprit is revealed. Another thing the movie failed to convey is that the fourth novel ends with a lot of apprehension about what the future holds. Harry and his friends are afraid of what Voldemort will do and what it means for their lives. We also are supposed to get a hint of the politics that rule the fifth novel. The movie didn’t hit any of those points. In fact the movie ended on an overly cheery note for me.
I do have to give the writers some credit. They adapted a long and detailed novel in to a two and a half hour movie. The unfortunately cut some of my favorite scenes from the novel including Dobby the house elf, the Dursleys, and the Quidditch World Cup (kinda). They did get the important stuff in. But as was expected, I missed the little things. I also feel like they skewed things a bit. The Ron-Hermoine relationship really didn’t get the time it deserved, nor did the meddlings of Rita Skeeter. From the way they played certain scenes, it looks like Hermoine has a thing for Harry, which isn’t quite right.
The special effects in this movie surpass the previous three installments. The dragons were amazing as was lake task. I was a little dissappointed with Lord Voldemort. He didn’t look quite right. His eyes should have been visibly red (a fact they mention multiple times in the book). Fiennes also made Voldemort seem more like a floating fairy than a dark lord. I didn’t quite get the rage and evil I wanted from Voldemort (mainly because he seemed to be “dancing” around the screen).
I could go on and on about what I thought about this movie. Obviously my opinions on Harry Potter are limitless. You might be wondering why I gave this movie four out of five stars but have some many criticisms. To be honest, I am being overly critical. I did like the movie and I thought it was better than the third film. And of course, its a Harry Potter movie. How could it be bad? This movie is definitely worth watching, even at primetime ticket prices. If you haven’t seen them already, rent the first three and then head to the theater. You won’t be sorry you did.
March 8th, 2006 at 11:39 PM
[…] I’m a proud owner of the two-disc special edition DVD of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch it yet or to check out the extras, but I’m looking forward to it. Check back this weekend for a full review of this DVD including all of the extras, and if the the second disc is worth the extra price. […]
March 12th, 2006 at 10:40 PM
[…] Movie Review: The Goblet of Fire […]