Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is
the fourth instalment in a series
about a young Wizard and his adventures in (and around) the Hogwarts
school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Based on the children's books by
J.K Rowling, the films have been an incredibly successful franchise,
eagerly and sometimes fanatically anticipated by fans from all over the
world.
The fourth outing, directed by English Potter newcomer Mike Newell, continues the trend of darkening the tone of the films as we descend further and further into the saga. So how did he do? Very well, all things considered.
One of the main issues that has dogged the future release of this film
since the inception of the series has been its size. The original three
books, which weighed in at around 200-300 pages are dominated by Goblets
page count, which weighs in at a whopping 636 pages. Subsequently, a
lot of material had to be dropped, and the remaining streamlined to make
the story fit appropriately on the Silver Screen. Gone is the Elf Liberation
Front championed by Hermione
Granger, as well as Harry’s annual confinement with the Dursleys.
This leaves room for Newell to concentrate on the Tri-wizard tournament, kind of like an Olympic tournament for wizards, based around 3 exciting and dangerous tasks; the burgeoning romances and adolescence infatuations as the students reach an age where their hormones finally start kicking the shit out of each other, and the re-emergence of he-who-is-frequently-named-these-days, the Dark Lord Voldemort.
Although the first few scenes are rushed through to get the ball rolling on these main themes (and the editing a little choppy too), once the film settles down it is nothing but a joy to watch. Newell, veteran of such rom-coms as Four Weddings and a Funeral is perfectly suited to teasing the kind of performance from the young leads that such a hormone-bouncing environment dictates; neither is he scared to shake things up - all 3 young leads, Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson II) were sent to acting classes/workshops to develop their growing talents.
So we had things removed, a few things added; liberties were taken to keep the Dragon onscreen for as long as possible (but with a beautifully rendered beast such as this, there are few complaints), and a cracking film at the end of it all. Apart from a criminal underuse of Serverus Snape (Alan Rickman), and a few pacing issues (dictated by the book), we have the best Harry Potter film so far.
- Ricky Lee McCullough