Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Director Mike Newell's adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is easily the best yet in the series' franchise. In condensing some 700+ pages of material, Newell impressively managed to keep all of the major storylines intact, without having to sacrifice key plot points. Goblet of Fire was also definitely deserving of its PG-13 rating, as I'm certain some of the more dark scenes, like, oh say... Harry getting tortured, will probably disturb younger viewers.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) begins his fourth year at Hogwarts, which this year is hosting the Triwizard Tournament--a magical competition between three of Europe's magical academies: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Only three students, one from each school, are chosen by the Goblet of Fire to be a tournament champion, as the three students will then compete in three dangerous magical tasks, each designed to test their magical prowess. After Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons, Quidditch star Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, and finally Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts are chosen as the three champions, the Goblet of Fire suddenly and mysteriously spits out a fourth name to compete in the dangerous tournament--Harry Potter, of course. Unfortunately for Harry, it seems that whoever put his name into the Goblet of Fire engineered it such that he would definitely be selected and therefore forced to complete dangerous tasks well beyond the scope of his abilities as a mere 14 year-old wizard. Harry must face a dragon, rescue underwater captives hidden deep within a lake, and navigate an ever-moving and seemingly ravenous maze just to survive the tournament, not to mention have any hope of winning it. Besides the rigorous challenges he must face during the tournament, Harry also finds that his fourth year at Hogwarts entails the horrifying task of asking a girl to a formal ball, as well as numerous other coming-of-age hardships. At times I wondered if Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) would punch out Harry over some perceived romantic slight with Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) like some sort of bizarre Dawson's Creek episode.

Fortunately, this was not Dawson's Creek, so I didn't have to scrape out my own eyeballs.

Whether one has read the Harry Potter books or not, it will be apparent that the plot is moving at lightening speed. But again, having to condense 700 pages into one movie meant quick transitions and summarizing of material. The amount of humor in this movie was much improved from its predecessors, especially because the Weasley twins and all their antics were given a much larger quantity of screen time. The acting overall was surprisingly stronger, specifically from Daniel Radcliffe, whose ability to cry was not so much laughable as it was in Prisoner of Azkaban, but instead believable and moving--especially in the final scenes. Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) was portrayed perfectly, superbly balanced between intimidating and comically strange, and Ralph Fiennes was simply inspired as Voldemort. The scene between Voldemort and Harry toward the end of the movie was easily my favorite, as Newell managed to preserve on the screen the power and fear that was so excruciatingly moving in the book.

My only major complaint with this movie was Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. I felt that he was alright in Prisoner of Azkaban, but, quite frankly, he sucked in this movie. Whether his portrayal was due to Newell's direction or simply his own admitted ignorance as to Dumbledore's character, the guy did a remarkably horrific job and basically butchered the role completely. Seriously dude, read the freakin book next time and get a clue.

Overall, I think this movie will be easy to enjoy and understand whether one has read the books or not, and I give it my strongest recommendation. I admit that I am biased toward this type of film, but it really was done remarkably well. I'm anxiously anticipating the sequel, Harry Potter and the Fireball of Danger and Magic, sure to start filming soon!