HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIRE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: intense thematic elements, wizardry

Rated:

for Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes)

It became very clear when the fourth film was cast that the focus of The Goblet of Fire would be a dark and brooding story that reflects the monstrous turn Rowling's novel takes in the final pages. This book is one of the most beloved among fans, and the film adaptation does a wonderful job at transcribing memorable moments to the silver screen.

Young Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has been invited to join the Weasley family for the Quidditch World Cup, an annual event of festivities and chaos in the wizarding world. The evening of festivities takes a morose turn when Dark Wizards invade the gathering, burning the camp to the ground and shooting a Death Mark into the air to signify the presence of the followers of Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard believed to have been killed when his death curse against baby Harry backfired. Harry and his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) return to Hogwarts significantly sobered. The impending school year promises change, for two other schools of magic in Europe have agreed to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, a matching of school-age wizard wits as the champions are set to dangerous tasks to prove their versatility and skill.

Despite the age barrier that prevents Harry from entering, the Goblet of Fire spits out his name as one of the contestants. Bound by magic to participate, Harry is pitted against darker forces than he has before come into contact with, befuddled over how to succeed against dragons and hostile merpeople, and at odds with his friends. Ron believes he put his name into the goblet and is angry Harry did not share the secret with him. Hermione is at odds with Ron over her interest in another school's champion, the charismatic Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski). To top it all off, they have a new and frightening teacher to deal with by the name of Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Snape still has it in for Harry, and the final task will lead him to a terrible place where his worst nightmares will come to pass.

This is not a movie for children. I cannot underline that enough, because while the first two hours of the film are wonderfully entertaining and full of quirky humor, the last forty minutes take an extremely dark and terrible turn. Readers familiar with the books will know what they are in for, but a bout of excessively dark magic on the part of evil fiends grants the physical restoration of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). In addition to this horrific sequence, we witness the killing of a student, terrifying bouts with dragons and ferocious water-dwelling creatures, and a sinister sequence of murderous nightmares. Children under the age of twelve will be frightened by the grotesque depiction of Voldemort, both as a "child" and an adult, as well as a gruesome transfiguration of shrinking skin and gnarled bones. That aside, teens and adults will be enthralled and, yes, at times even shaken by what is depicted before them on the screen.

Memorable scenes from the book come vividly to life before our eyes. The entrance of competing schools at Hogwarts, the shy romance between Hagrid (Robby Coltrain) and a giantess, the nasty side of the local tabloid journalist Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson), a sad moment of remembrance for Neville, and a fantastic battle between Harry and a dragon. The film is full of brilliant colors and superb animation, but the real gems lie in the actors. Fiennes gives a spine-chilling, sadistic depiction of Voldemort. Brendan Gleeson is a formidable Mad-Eye Moody. David Tennant is little-seen but wonderfully brilliant. The only down side is that many familiar faces are forced to take a back seat to further the plot--namely  Rickman's Professor Snape, whose significance is underlined with a hint of the sinister.

A PG13 is earned and well deserved for scenes of violence, mild language, briefly suggestive content, and thematic elements. Students are scraped up and put in peril by dragons, creatures of the deep, and Death Eaters (followers of Lord Voldemort). "Bloody hell" is thrown around a half dozen times, along with other mild profanities. Harry takes a bath only to have a friendly ghost join him in the tub. "Moaning Myrtle" peeks beneath the bubbles and sidles up next to him. A spider is manipulated, tortured, and killed to prove to the students how terrible "Unforgivable Curses" are. Two of those curses are later used on Harry, the third thrown at an unsuspecting student. It is implied that a man's hand is severed as part of an evil spell. Adults stand by and allow a child to be humiliated and tortured. There is not a great deal of magic in this film, except for in the ending sequence, which many Christian foundations have attempted to use to prove how "evil" the books are. When taken out of context, it may appear true, but audiences are reminded that Voldemort is evil, and does use "black" witchcraft.

Fans of the books are going to love this film as it unfolds, granting faithful viewers numerous glimpses into the world that has become beloved to them over the years. The children have grown up and are entering a new realm of possibility. Romance and danger is in the air, while for avid book fans, also granting us numerous sad moments of reflection, faces that will fade with time, enemies to be forged, friendships that will be shaken. It's impossible for the true fan to view The Goblet of Fire without emotional attachment, and that is how it should be. It is a brilliant film, as it was a brilliant book, and for me it felt as though I was returning to a place I knew very well.