Goblet a choppy step back for the series

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2006)

I've always been pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to the Harry Potter movies. I do love the books, which have always been top-of-the-line fantasy. The movies, on the other hand, have straddled mediocrity. The first two felt quite empty, but the third brought the series up a notch with a great new atmosphere and a much darker tone. We could only hope the fourth would continue with this train of thought.
The fourth year of Harry Potter's life as a wizard begins with him automatically at Ron Weasly's house, ready to go the Quidditch World Cup (no introduction with the Dursleys this time). Afterwards, Harry (Radcliffe), Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson) are back on a train for the fourth year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Things aren't all the same this year, as Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Cup, an interschool competition of the best of wizarding students. After a representative has been chosen for each of the three schools, the goblet of fire gives out one last name, that of Harry Potter, who is now forced to compete in this extremely dangerous competition.
Despite popular opinion, the fourth book was my least favourite of the six currently out there. Why you ask? Because it was overly long with countless points that really didn't affect the plot one way or another. The whole Triwizard cup could have been done without had some tweaking took place. When 90% of a book is completely inconsequential, this does carry on to the movie, as much of that 90% is required to be shown again.
Another prospected problem for the film is that the book was much longer than the other three. This means that the movie cut out a lot of stuff, such as Hermione's war with journalist Rita Skeeter (Richardson) and the elf rights lobby, that might irk fans of the book. Even with all of this cut out (mostly for the better), the movie still feels like it is trying to condense everything too much. A lot of scenes feel like they were cut short, and a lot of characters have a minuscule part compared to the book. The most obvious instance is concerning the rival champs, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour, who probably say a combined total of twenty words. This will annoy anyone familiar with the book, but truly confuse anyone who didn't read the books as they are given no time to absorb the information being given to them.
While the Triwizard cup may have been unnecessary in my eyes, it does provide for some great visuals in the movie. The opening event where Harry must face a dragon looks great, even if it isn't entirely logical. The final event is also handled quite well. The touch of magic in the world that has been present throughout is still intact, such as the moving images in the paintings and such. The visuals are great all around.
One thing that stands out about this part of the series is that it starts what I like to call the phase where Harry discovers himself. A big part of the tournament in the Yule Ball, which forces Harry and Ron to get themselves dates. The movie handles the process with all the male insecurities they can fit into the short amount of time allotted, and actually works out quite well as a breather from all the Triwizard talk. The Ball itself isn't quite as I expected, seeming more like a high school prom (complete with an absolutely horrid band) than an actual ball, but regardless, this was one part they got right.
The ending of the movie is what many fans of the book have been waiting for, and it doesn't disappointÂ…much. Note that this paragraph is probably a spoiler for those who have gone bookless. Voldemort is represented quite well by Ralph Fiennes, though he seems like more of a creature than a human as I had thought of him. He also seems way too energetic at the end. Regardless, it brings the darkness that I loved in the third one back to the movie. Also, I loved the little hint towards the KKK reflected in the robes of the Death Eaters.
The acting of the three leads is much more mature than it was in the first couple movies. Radcliffe is full of insecurities as a child who truly does not want to be in his own position. Grint also has improved, being the immature Ron Weasley we all know from the books. The biggest change is Emma Watson, who has matured greatly into quite a good young actress. She doesn't try to appear any more mature than any other teenager, but her anger scenes are done exceptionally well, considering how mediocre the three of them were back in Sorceror's Stone.
As for the adults, the only one worthy of special mention is Brendan Gleeson, who is absolutely perfect as Mad Eye Moody, the new defence against the dark arts teacher. His quirks are all excellent to watch, yet you can always see some kind of deeper meaning in whatever insanity he performs. He provides some great levity along with some very good non-humorous moments. The other mentionable actor is Michael Gambon, who picked up the role of Dumbledore from the late Richard Harris after The Chamber of Secrets. While I did prefer Harris, Gambon has filled his shoes quite well, and aside from the voice it is difficult to tell the difference.
Despite all the problems, Goblet is still better than the first two entries, even if not by much. I am confident the problem lay with adapting the book rather than the minds behind the film. This really doesn't help expectations for the next two, which are even longer. Even if the problems are understandable, that doesn't stop Goblet from being a choppy film that will disappoint fans of the book and confuse fans of the films.