Embarrassing and Dull

Rating: 3/10 (19 November 2005)

This fourth Harry Potter film represents a significant slide from the previous film, the Prisoner of Azkaban. Mike Newell's hamfisted direction pales in comparison to the nuanced and adult work of Alfonso Cuarón, and Newell's trite work more like the dull and insipid films of series originator Chris Columbus. Michael Gambon looked bored and embarrassed, which at least was better than Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson, whose incompetence only becomes more glaring with every passing film. Rupert Glint was upstanding as ever, but was likewise hobbled by an utterly facile, idiotic script. The film is too long to hold even the most ardent fan's attention, but the film's most important failures all center on its relationships with its source text and its audience. As far as the source text is concerned, Rowlings is not a particularly good writer, and fidelity to her text is not an ambition to champion. Many of her scenes are awkward enough in the original, let alone graceful when translated to the screen. Some are outright stupid, retarded, substandard according to any conceivable model of drama or narrative. The audience is another matter. This film simply is not designed for 14 year olds. The film reads younger than the previous two, whereas the entire point behind the series is for the material and the audience to grow together.
Finally, there is a creepy moment of pedophilia that all should be ashamed of... the Bathhouse Scene is perhaps the most hysterically embarrassing moment to surface in a teen film. Even John Hughes could have done better than this.