Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Synopsis:

After a holiday marred by vivid nightmares and omens of the dark lord Voldemort's return, Harry Potter is more than happy to return to the safety of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he realise that Hogwarts is due to host the legendary Triwizard tournament - a magical competition between Europe's three great magical schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Since contestants must be over 17 to participate, Harry feels himself safe. But the enchanted Goblet of Fire, whose task it is to choose the competitors, proves him wrong when it spits out his name, much to the disgust of his schoolmates and his own horror. Now Harry must battle murderous monsters, outwit his much older rivals and endure the scorn of his peers. But dragons and school bullies are nothing in comparison to Harry's must painful challenge yet - his first teenage crush.

Review:

The fourth installment in the Harry Potter saga is easily the most exciting film of the series to date, if not the most satisfying. It may be over two and a half hours long but there's hardly a second that isn't crammed full of action: monsters, mysteries and battles to the death - not to mention lashings of teenage angst - this film has it all.

Or, to be more precise, the film tries to have it all. With so much going on all the time that you hardly have time to catch breath, let alone savour any of the film's gorgeous visual details. The difficulty stems from the filmmakers' understandable urge to have their cake and eat it. Instead of condensing the plot to its bare bones and then adding detail where possible, they have tried to cram as much of the detail into the shortest time possible. As such even the best scenes have a trimmed, rushed feeling like one of those guided museum tours in which you see the 150 masterpieces in 45 minutes.

Still, rush or no rush, you can't help but gasp at the many spectacular scenes. The consistently excellent art direction and special effects have, if anything, improved since the last film. The action sequences are easily the most technically challenging of the series so far, but director Mike Newell has risen to the task - presenting them in deft and confident strokes that make for thrilling viewing. With not one crack showing, not one hair out of place, this is also the most gorgeously dressed Harry Potter, which makes the breakneck pace all the more frustrating. You begin to long for a pause button so that you can linger over a piece of exquisite set design or character animation.

Another positive aspect is the film's unflinching presentation of the darker aspects of the book. Far from sugar coating the horror of the dark lord Voldemort, Goblet of Fire positively revels in it. The film, like the book, is overshadowed by Voldemort's menacing presence and it lends seriousness and depth to what might otherwise be a flimsy plot. Beware though, the horror of Voldemort may prove too scary for some 10-year-olds to handle, whatever the Films and Publications Board may think. As a rule of thumb if they've read the book they can handle the film - just don't be surprised if they have a few nightmares afterwards.

Aside from all the razzmatazz, Goblet of Fire does an excellent job of capturing the other major thrust of the book - Harry's transition (along with Ron and Hermione) from child into teenager. It presents the painful awkwardness of being a 14-year-old with the kind of humour and compassion that JK Rowling would be proud of. The young actors rise to the challenge of this transition, with Rupert Grint stealing the show again as Ron. After her strong performance in the third film Emma Watson proves slightly disappointing as Hermione, coming across as rather overwrought. Daniel Radcliffe gives a solid if not particularly inspired performance as Harry.

Apart from the marvelous Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore, the superb cast of adult actors barely get a word in edgeways. It's a crying shame, but an unavoidable one, that talents like Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman and Maggie Smith share less than 20 minutes of screen time between them. Of course they make the most of every second, as does Ralph Fiennes whose portrayal of Voldemort is absolutely pitch perfect. The two new cast members - Brendan Gleeson as the delightfully deranged "Mad-Eye" Moody and Miranda Richardson as the poisonous Rita Skeeter - also acquit themselves admirably.

Overall Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not the best film of the series - that honour still rests with Alfonso Cuaron's Prisoners of Azkaban - but it is still well worth seeing. It's a pity that it doesn't linger over a few more of the quirks that make Rowling's books so loveable, but it deserves credit for being a thoroughly enjoyable experience, even if at times we need to run to keep up.

- Alistair Fairweather