Review #767: 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' (2005)

As we all remember, turning 14 comes with as many strange new emotions as it does the need to rebel against everything resembling authority, and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), fresh off his experiences battling ghostly Dementors and a werewolf, faces a brand new threat - women. Goblet of Fire, with a new director in Mike Newell, continues Alfonso Cuaron's darker and and more sinister tone, pitching Harry against a whole new range of beasts and dark wizards, but it's the section around the middle of the film - where Harry and his ever-present friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must find dates and attend formal dance the Yule Ball - that delights the most and brings the very best out of it's still-young actors.

After a Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup that leaves the 'Dark Mark' - the sigil of Lord Voldemort's followers - lighting up the smoky sky, Harry returns to Hogwarts for another year. This year however, they are being joined by overseas schools Beauxbatons of France, and Durmstrang of Bulgaria, as Hogwarts is playing host to the Triwizard Tournament, a collection of dangerous feats that pitches one pupil from each school against each other for the prize. After the champions are selected - Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy) for Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) for Durmstrang, and Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) for Hogwarts - a fourth name is spat out - Harry Potter.

Harry swears to Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) that he did not cheat and enter his own name (as he's underage), and, being bound by a magical contract, the schools have no option but to allow him to compete. New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher 'Mad-Eye' Moody (Brendan Gleeson) - a half-crazed ex-Auror with one magical eye that is independent of his other and which can see through the back of his own head - sets about preparing Harry for the perilous tournament. He must face dragons, sea-monsters and a seemingly endless maze to find the prize, but where Harry is, the threat of Lord Voldemort's return is always lurking.

Mike Newell and returning screenwriter Steve Kloves do an excellent job in condensing a mammoth book (about twice as large as Prisoner of Azkaban) into a coherent film. For a film so rich in action and whizz-bang CGI, it thankfully doesn't neglect the drama. Harry's friendship with Ron and Hermione is stretched, with hormones and jealousy creeping into Ron's personality, and Hermione's struggle to deal with the idiot. But it's hardly melodrama, and the Yule Ball provides the most amusing set-piece in the series, and a welcome distraction from the darkness that lurks outside.

It's the point in the series where disarming spells and defensive tricks start to prove ineffective, and people begin to die. The opening scene, which depicts an elderly muggle (played by Eric Sykes) stumbling upon Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and an undeveloped Voldemort, sees the first time the dreaded killing curse is used, and therefore sets the tone. It's also bookmarked by a thrilling climax in which (spoilers!) Voldemort finally returns in the form of a noseless Ralph Fiennes, who puts in a suitably creepy performance. It doesn't beat Azkaban as the series best entry, it's far too long and sometimes rushed for that, but it's certainly the most entertaining.


Directed by: Mike Newell
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, David Tennant
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie