The fourth installment of the Harry Potter saga, “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,” makes the full transition from a magical children’s tale to a tale of horror. At times Harry sinks so low into the pits of hell that it has the audience screaming “enough!”
The movie covers Harry in his fourth year at Hogwarts. This year Hogwarts has been chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament, the Olympics of wizardry that does not involve sports, but does involve lots of strenuous tasks that are likely to end in death.
The tournament usually consists of three seventh-year students from the different institutions.
Harry, at the ripe age of 14, makes it into the competition through some foul play from the dark side. With the Triwizard Tournament come the two visiting witchcraft institutions that spice up things at Hogwarts.
If this was not enough, Lord Voldemort has been gaining power. Voldemort is still continuing his plot to regain power and take over the wizardry world. On the path to regaining the wizard world, step number one is to remove Harry Potter.
For the devoted book-reading fans, the movie will feel even more powerful. For the rest of us slackers that never made it to the fourth book, it will seem like all the other films: rushed and compressed.
The surface level feel to all the Harry Potter films does not stop the non-obsessed fans from caring for all the characters, even the new ones.
One new exciting character is Alastor Moody (Brendan Gleeson) who takes over the always-vacant professor of Defense of the Dark Arts position. Moody looks like a Tim Burton creation but goes beyond his crazy look to be much more complex.
Another newcomer is Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) who provides some comparison to Harry being the only amazing student at Hogwarts.
Director Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) gives “The Goblet of Fire” an adult feel that leaves some fans wishing for the childish days of Chris Columbus in the first films.
Newell, unlike Alfonso Cuaron (who directed “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”), does not attempt to put his own spin on J.K. Rowling’s novel but instead uses the novel as a guidebook to the film.
The old cast, which has now reached puberty and seems awkward in their own skin, provides the usual performances. The intensity of the new film provides all of them with the chance to showcase their acting abilities and prove that they can really act.
Daniel Radcliffe, who will never escape his role as Harry Potter, gives a much stronger performance then he did in “The Prisoner of Azkaban.” Instead of coming off as flaky and unreal, Radcliffe brings Harry Potter to life.
Emma Watson, as Hermione Granger, makes her presence known in each scene by being on the verge of tears.
Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, perfectly embodies the uncomfortable feeling of being 14. If anything, you should go see the movie to see how the cute child actors are dealing with their teenage years.
For everyone who was ready for little Harry Potter to become a man, this movie will be a breath of life to the series. The rest of us will not have a clue where to place the blame over the loss of innocence in the film.
Harry Potter used to be the escape from the cold reality of the real world, but now it is the cold reality. What started as a story of a powerless boy in a big world who gains a magical power allowing him to take control of his environment has become a story of a magical boy who is powerless in an alternate world.
In the cold, harsh reality of our world, it is hard not to miss the occasional vacation that the magical Harry Potter world used to provide.
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