Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Movie & DVD Review (2005)

(Originally published 2005)

The new Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” is the first film in the series to mark a turning point in terms of quality of direction and storytelling. The movie is little more than a bridge, connecting the three previous Potters to the final installments yet to come. That might be enough for some, who will delight in the film’s handful of undeniably terrific scenes. But for hardcore fans of the series, the movie might leave them wanting.

Following the excellent last film, “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Goblet” leaches further into the dark throes of adolescence, which complicates the proceedings considerably.

Working from Steve Kloves’ script, director Mike Newell deepens the questions raised in “Azkaban” by wondering what magic exists during one’s teen years--an awkward time, to say the least, in which bodies change, sexuality awakens and disillusionment takes hold.

Many will argue that there is plenty of magic to be had when you’re, say, 14 years old, as is the case with Harry and company. Rowling would agree, particularly in matters of friendship and of the heart. But as childhood waxes into adulthood, Rowling also sees the inherent dangers of such a time, the uneasiness of it, as well as its fragility.

For her characters, whose turbulent lives are likely less envied now than they were at the series’ start, this shift into adolescence is compounded exponentially. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must not only deal with the onset of pimples, mood swings and hormones, but also with evil forces they don’t understand and with powers they have yet to fully realize. While carrying a wand and learning the occasional magic trick might have initially sounded fun to some, the “Potter” franchise has shown both to be a considerable liability.

That’s certainly the case here. With the exception of the scenes foreshadowing Lord Voldemort’s inevitable appearance toward the end, the movie mainly is concerned with the Triwizard Tournament, in which Harry mysteriously finds himself competing in spite of the fact that he’s three years younger than the required age limit. Nevertheless, the Goblet of Fire has coughed up his name as a contestant, which leads to three potentially deadly competitions between older students from Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

It’s the deadly part that helped “Goblet” to earn its PG-13 rating. Some of the images likely will be just enough to push a young mudblood over the edge. Parents of those children who warmed to the less-violent first films might want to take note should their junior or little miss be of the timid sort--“The Goblet of Fire” has blood up its sleeve, and it isn’t afraid to spill it. Here is a movie in which nearly dead children are chained to a watery deep, where they might drown if not reached in time, and where one unlucky person finds herself rooted to a rather disturbing, smothering undoing.

Older fans will dig those scenes, not to mention Harry’s harrowing battle with a fire-breathing dragon, which is so well done, it raises the bar for computer-generated special effects. And everyone should enjoy the introduction of Brendan Gleeson’s Mad-Eye Moody, which is a high point, as is the budding love affair between Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) and the towering Madame Maxine (Frances De La Tour), the headmistress of Beauxbatons, who resembles Lily Tomlin, but on steroids. She’s fantastic, as is the return of the washroom-dwelling Moaning Myrtle, a dreadfully flirty girl someone could have a good time with if she weren’t quite so creepy and, well, quite so dead.

Still, there’s no denying that too much of “Goblet” is just filler stringing us along to the all-important ending. Finally, in the last quarter of the film, we get the goods. Harry faces in person the man responsible for murdering his parents and who has long been determined to kill him--the vicious Voldemort, who is played by an unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes with the sort of sauce and vigor that almost makes you forget that this overly long, episodic movie has been the weakest of the series.

Grade: B-