Abrave/snobby few will try to hold out on the latest Harry Potter film by whining, yet again: “But it’s a kids’ movie!” Sorry, but that excuse is no longer valid. My, how fast little wizards grow up. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) turns 14 and goes PG-13 in the adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s fourth tome, “The Goblet of Fire,” and let’s face it: Adolescence is fun. Well, at least fun to watch.
The latest installment centers on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, pitting Harry, an unwilling contestant, against three older, bolder kids in a series of hazardous tasks involving fierce dragons, grumpy sea creatures and never-ending mazes. But the dazzling visual effects aren’t dizzying, for once, letting the emotional charge lead the way through an action-packed 157 minutes worth of film that feels about half as long.
Snippets of teenage tribulations help keep the film apace; the dragons may fly high, but the hormones run higher. Harry and pal Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) sport shaggy haircuts and aloof postures, the latter of which probably weren’t too much of a stretch for the young actors. (But worry not, you’ll be spared the acne; digital “spot removing” was said to have been used to clear up some skin problems in post-production.)
As Harry and his classmates prepare for the big Yule ball, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry turns into any other high school before the prom. Harry waits too long to ask his crush Cho Chang (Katie Leung), and Ron finds himself a blubbering fool before Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), who he suddenly sees in an all-new light (surprise, surprise). Add to all that a falling-out between best friends and teasing by the whole school, and Harry’s already got a lot on his plate without having to also prepare for the tournament and confront the looming return of his arch-nemesis Lord Voldemort (played by an unrecognizable but superbly creepy Ralph Fiennes).
Throughout this difficult time, the new Defense of the Dark Arts professor, Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), is assigned to “keep an eye” on Harry. The exuberant, irritable glass-eyed character is the best new addition to an already fine cast, with returning greats including the likes of Michael Gambon (as Dumbledore), Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), and Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall). We get some musical cameos, too — the kids only dance to boring music for the requisite ballroom scene before rocking to the sounds of a magically-conjured wizard band composed of none other than Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker as the lead singer and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway on guitar and drums, respectively. Did you expect any less from Hogwarts?
But for all the fun, “Goblet of Fire” is still the darkest chapter of the Potter films yet. “Prisoner of Azkaban” director Alfonso Cuarón vastly improved the series with his gloomier adaptation, and new director Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”), the first British director to sign on to this oh-so-British franchise, continues in the same brooding vein, upping the focus on the characters’ inner turmoil.
This translates into much more face time with our main man, with Radcliffe rising to the moment as a rather nuanced, turbulent Harry in the throes of ever-more-imminent danger. On shooting the fourth Potter book, Newell has been quoted as saying that “children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically.” And while our protagonists are perhaps a little above-average, Newell sticks to his guns and paints them as complex as the author intended them to be — even hero Harry flirts with the dark side for a modicum of a second. If the actors and directors keep growing in quality as the characters grow up, what a treat the next few films will be (though don’t expect the rating to shoot up to R anytime soon).
Yet wand-wielding, die-hard Harry Potter fans should brace themselves. “The Goblet of Fire” was, at 734 pages, quite a hefty novel to adapt. While the studio originally thought to split it up into two films, Newell decided against the idea, instead cutting out much of the subplots. Gone is much of the introduction; gone are the Dursleys; the Quidditch World Cup game is skipped over; and most of all, the story of Barty Crouch and his son is hugely downplayed (their house elf doesn’t even make the cut).
This unfortunately undercuts the political undertones found in Rowling’s story, but an amazing amount was packed in as it is, and the result is a taut, thrilling grown-up tale. Simply enchanting.
