Burn, Baby, Burn

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Mike Newell

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Continuing the descent into darkness, this fourth installment is powerful stuff. Chock full of characters, old and new, it squeezes everything it can into the two and half hour running time. It needs every second.

We begin with an old dark house and a portent of things to come, a rare glimpse into the enemy camp. Then we switch to our hero, Harry, who is not having a good night's sleep. He, along with his friends Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson), attend the Quidditch World Cup, but if he thought he could get away from the dark, he is sadly mistaken. Death Eaters, the followers of You-Know-Who, make an appearance and tear up the camp surrounding the Cup.

Harry seeks refuge at Hogwarts, but his trials are just beginning. Quite literally: the Triwizard Tournament, the most dangerous competition of the wizard's world. Members of the three other Schools arrive with the appropriate fanfare and cast of characters, then Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) informs everyone of the rules of the contest. The Minister of Magic, Barty Crouch, has one added rule: no one under 17 may enter. That seems to leave Harry out. But when the Goblet of Fire spits out the three names of the competitors, guess who is added?

This movie moves along briskly, with the contest the main focus. Characters are introduced quickly, and there is a sense of things moving fast. A new addition is Mad-Eye Moody (Gleeson), a rough and gruff Master of the Dark Arts. He is tasked to keep his roving eye on Harry by Dumbledore, who suspects (but cannot figure out) what is going on. Meanwhile, Harry goes from one challenge to another, fighting dragons and swimming underwater to... well, I won't give it away. But the action is exciting and tense.

The young actors continue to mature, led by Radcliffe, and the rest of the cast is solid and professional. Yes, many things are left out from the book, but translation and adaptation is always a tricky process. All in all, I can't say that this is the best of the four thus far (it isn't), but it still packs a punch and is good entertainment.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire In The News

-- S. Moyer

 

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