At the beginning of the fourth Harry Potter film, The Goblet Of
Fire, Harry is staying over at Ron’s house so he can attend the Quidditch World
Cup with Hermione, Ron and Ron’s family. The World Cup is a Quidditch match
taken to the nth degree, and the filmmakers have done a great job at expanding
the look of the games, as well as the grand pageantry surrounding it, on a world
level. The happiness following the games is shattered when the campgrounds are
assaulted by a malignant legion known as the Death Eaters. Getting lost among
the multitudes of frantic people scurrying to escape, Harry, Ron and Hermione
find each other in the charred ruins, where they learn that none other than
Lord Voldemort--the dark wizard who murdered Harry’s parents and who tried to
kill him as an infant--is behind this act of terror, which signifies that He
Who Must Not Be Named is ready to rise again.
Life at Hogwarts isn’t much safer. The legendary wizard school is chosen to host
the Triwizard Tournament, a contest for the ages for young wizards where the
winner will go down in history as a true champion. However, with nerves already
frayed thanks to Voldemort’s attack on the World Cup, it’s decreed that nobody
under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to participate in the Tournament,
thus blocking the majority of the student at Hogwarts, including Harry, Ron and
Hermione. And yet when the Goblet Of Fire, the magical device used to select
players for the Tournament, coughs up Harry’s name, the Hogwarts staff have no
choice but to include him in the game. Although Harry swears he didn’t put his
name in, he becomes a pariah at the school, where many of the students,
including Ron, think he cheated. Yet this problem pales in comparison to the
larger threat that looms over Harry, who has once more become a target of Lord
Voldemort.
Just when I begin to believe that the Harry Potter films might be running out of
steam, along comes the Goblet Of Fire, which not only revitalizes the series by
dealing with the teenage angst of its three main characters, but also ramps up the
overall series storyline with the arrival of a major new threat. The first thing
that makes Goblet Of Fire better than the previous three HP films is that we’re
spared the annoying opening scenes of Harry constantly being humiliated by his
muggle family. By taking us instead to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry Potter And
The Goblet Of Fire remains in the winsome magical world created by author J. K.
Rowling throughout the film.
While Goblet Of Fire lacks the overt horror imagery and tone of
Prisoner Of Azkaban, Director Mike Newell still provides the necessary chills
while effectively keeping the story on track. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and
Emma Watson are once again superb as Harry, Ron and Hermione, respectively.
Brendon Gleeson is a welcome addition to the cast as Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody,
and Ralph Fiennes makes the most of his impressively creepy cameo as Lord
Voldemort. The two-disc DVD comes with plenty of special features, one of the
best being an in-depth interview with the three main stars, Radcliffe, Grint
and Watson. There are also the usual making of features, and various games,
which can be a bear to operate using your DVD remote. There are no commentaries.
--SF
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