Potter's Back with a Brand new Rap

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2005)

Year four has begun at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and with a few new characters on the scene one can only imagine what a breathtaking, white-knuckle ride this is. As a reader, I was waiting for Goblet of Fire to simply to live the thrills I have read about since the 4th grade. As a movie fan, I was waiting for this film for the plot, the new direction, the acting, the effects and the just plain out brilliant screenplay writing that brought to life the fantasy-come-true that is Harry Potter.
This new year, Harry (Dan Radcliffe) is faced with grave challenges beyond good and evil, right and wrong. This new film is much more mature and gives us a whole new way to see Harry and his friends. They aren't 11 year-old kids anymore, and their age reflects the choices they have to make. Harry is suddenly and unwillingly entered into the Triwizard Tournament. This tournament is a series of three tasks that three young wizards still in school will compete in for each respective school. Because of serious injuries and death that took place during the previous holdings of this tournament, a new rule is enforced, forbidding anyone under the age of 17 to enter. Our main character was looking forward to a year of sitting about and watching someone else get all the fame and glory for once.
But we wouldn't have a film then would we? Harry is entered without his knowledge and is named the SECOND Howgarts Champion. This proves to be very trying to Harry's nerves. From hateful schoolmates who believe he wants to hog all the glory, to Dragons, to Merpeople, to "Mad-eye" teachers who are just a tad out of step, Goblet proves to be not only more exciting, but much more comical. The jealous and clumsy-clueless best friend Ron (Rupert Grint) is over anxious with finding a date to the 'Yule Ball', a ball that is held each time the Triwizard Tournament takes place, on Christmas Day. Not mention the obvious feelings he has for the undoubtedly charming Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) who has moved beyond the trio to fresher meat; The boys school Champion and all-star quidditch player Victor Krum. The bubbling about girls and old foes such as Draco Malfoy bring out the normality of the character's teen lives so much that all the quirks an outsider would find distracting eventually dissolve away into what can be considered normal.
But if the petty teenage drama's don't keep you wanting more, why then look into the world of evil that is much more front and center in this film. Voldemort is getting stronger by the day and the Quidditch World Cup goes crazed when followers of Voldemort send his mark up into the sky to cause pure panic. A Tournament judge is found dead and all the while Harry is having dreams of his enemy plotting to kill him.
Dan Radcliffe delivers a stunning performance completely filling out the Harry that Rowling envisioned and non-reading audiences can enjoy. Interperting every reaction exactly how Harry's emotions are described in the novel makes the audience want to root for him that much more. The thrilling plot is wrapped up with a climax that becomes pivotal to the next movies; Lord Voldemort returns. Climbing out of a cauldron and Killing the other Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory, only makes the legendary graveyard sequence that much more on the pg-13 side, not to mention his cat/snakelike appearance with horrible red eyes and two slits for a nose. But the appearance of Harry's parents and Cedric when Voldemort and Harry's wands connect in a duel prove to be heartfelt and riveting, and not so much the mushy gooshy that all fantasy and action films have to have to satisfy the audience, as it was a need for a motive for Harry to survive.
All fans of the novel will be satisfied with the film, despite missing characters and scenes. Goblet takes it one step further and allows the audience to see that darker times lay ahead, and there's not always going to be a happy ending, but there can always be a hopeful one. The bravery and loyalty our Champion displays makes the film all the more heartfelt. Brilliant performances for such young actors, a great plot, wonderful effects, comical moments, and capturing thrill ride makes "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the best 'Potter' film so far.