A Warner Bros. Release
Story - $9.75
Acting - $10.75
Directing - $10.00
Production Design - $10.75
Special Effects - $10.75
Score/Music - $8.75
*"REEL" VALUE - $10.13 = Distinctly different from the previous films, as the novel is for the earlier books in the series, this darker story is even more frightening as it captures the pressures and anxiety of these characters entering their adolescence years.
SYNOPSIS: {If you’ve read the novel there’s no real need to read this paragraph} Harry (RADCLIFFE) attends the Quidditch World Cup with his friends Ron (GRINT) and Hermione (WATSON), but something sinister ignites the skies at the Quidditch campsite – the sign of the evil Lord Voldemort. Conjured by his followers, the Death Eaters, who haven’t dared to appear in public since Voldemort (FIENNES) was last seen thirteen years ago – the night he murdered Harry’s parents. Harry returns to Hogwarts, but things are a little different this year. Dumbledore (GAMBON) announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of the most exciting and dangerous of the wizarding community’s magical competitions. One champion will be selected from each of the three-wizarding schools to compete in a series of life-threatening tasks in hopes of winning the coveted Triwizard Cup. Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch (PACK) and Professor Dumbledore preside over the enchanted Goblet of Fire as it selects one student from each school. The cup names Durmstrang’s Quidditch superstar Victor Krum (IANEVSKI), followed by Beauxbatons’ exquisite Fleur Delacour (POÉSY) and finally, Hogwarts’ popular all-around golden boy Cedric Diggory (PATTINSON). But then the Goblet unexpectedly spits out one final name, Harry Potter. Harry is three years too young to enter the grueling competition; he insists that he didn’t put his name in, and that he really doesn’t want to compete. But the Goblet’s decision is binding. Suspecting that whoever did enter Harry’s name in the Tournament deliberately wants to put him in grave danger, Dumbledore asks Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody (GLEESON), the eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to keep his highly perceptive and magical eye trained on the teenage wizard. As Harry prepares for the challenging Triwizard tasks, events take an ominous turn when someone is murdered on Hogwarts grounds. Scared and still haunted by dreams of Voldemort, Harry turns to Dumbledore. But even the venerable Headmaster admits that there are no longer any easy answers. Harry soon finds himself hurtling headfirst toward an inevitable encounter with true evil.
REVIEW: In Mike Newell’s visioning of J.K. Rowling’s novel, Harry Potter’s world is not just a darker place because of the new challenges he must face, but there is more anxiety that comes from the peer pressures and drama of being an adolescent boy. In fact, the Yule ball is as traumatic for Harry and is friends as any of the three challenges he must face in the Triwizard Tournament. As such, the film is especially drastically different from the previous films in that it lacks a sense of the passing of time. You don’t feel that the film encompasses a full year at Hogwarts, and I think part of that is this dark tone tends to shut out a sense of the seasons passing. The characters have arrived at puberty, and Newell creates this snapshot of how the characters are adjusting to the new demands that puts on them. While Harry remains the main focus of the film, THE GOBLET OF FIRE gives more screen time to Harry’s friends and the trials of their adjusting. Even some of the minor characters are moved closer to the spotlight that adds to a larger sense of the student body and life at Hogwarts. As we’ve come to know most of the facility from the previous films, they are pushed into the background, and only Dumbledore and Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody have a larger part to play in the film. Even their good friend Hagrid becomes a lesser figure in this tale as he struggles with his own matters of the heart.
The effects are even more breathtaking and crisper and the computer-generated images get phenomenally better with each film. With so many companies working on the film there is a level of craftsmanship and artistic value that is far superior and a refreshing change from film solely rendered by Industrial Light & Magic. Rowling’s books give a wide breath to the readers’ imagination and the people working on these special effects are given a lot of breathing room. I especially enjoyed the mermaids and the other underwater creatures that look like something you would find in a H.P. Lovecraft novel. There is a level of respect for the material that allows these visuals to have a bit more life to them than the majority of soulless effects that look just like pretty pictures.
This young cast has come an extremely long way in terms of their performances and acting abilities. They are not just comfortable with these characters; they deliver shining performances that complement each other so well. Young Daniel Radcliffe has become a leading man in a truly traditional sense, and possesses an air of a young Earl Flynn. Emma Watson has the charm and grace of a true leading lady, and Rupert Grint has a certain charm that reminds me of an Edward Furlong or Macaulay Culkin.
The only thing I did not like about Newell’s take on Rowling’s THE GOBLET OF FIRE is the score by Patrick Doyle. It simply doesn’t blend seamlessly with the film and often sticks out like a score thumb. The only time it really works is when it’s along side the action sequences, but the score feels like it is trying to emulate a John Williams score, who did the first and third movie.
In the end, what is truly important is if the film resonates with the fans. I’ve honestly only make it all the way through the first 3 and ½ books before I became bored with the series, but I can understand why the books are so popular with young readers. Given the reaction from the audience I saw the film with; THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be a big hit with the fans. The enthusiasm of the audience was evident through the entire film as the kids where cheering, applauding, Ooing, and Awing. Given the big budget unmemorable films that parade through the summer box office, this is a series that has much more heart and soul, and, that is rare these days, and is totally justified of all the hype leading up to the release of the film. And as with each successive film, unlike the “Star Wars” franchise, each Harry Potter film is better than the previous one. A tad bit scarier than the last one, this is definitely a terrifying film for the young members of the audience.
CREW: Director - Mike Newell; Screenplay - Steve Kloves; Producer - David Heyman; Based On The Novel By J.K. ROWLING; Director Of Photography - Roger Pratt, BSC; Production Designer - Stuart Craig; Music - Patrick Doyle; Visual Effects Supervisor - Jim Mitchell; Costume Designer - Jany Temime; Creature & MakeUp Effects Designer - Nick Dudman; Key Prosthetic MakeUp Artists - Mark Coulier & Shaune Harrison; Key Animatronic Designers - Jennifer Walker, Tacy Kneale, and Valerie Jones; Special Visual Effects & Animation - Industrial Light & Magic; Dragon, Ship & World Cup Animation Supervisor - Steve Rawlins; Visual Effects - FRAMESTORECFC, THE MOVING PICTURE COMPANY, DOUBLE NEGATIVE, CINESITE (EUROPE) LTD, BUF, RISING SUN PICTURES, THE ORPHANAGE INC., and ANIMAL LOGIC.
CAST: Harry Potter… DANIEL RADCLIFFE; Hermione Granger… EMMA WATSON; Ron Weasley… RUPERT GRINT; Arthur Weasley… MARK WILLIAMS; Fred Weasley… JAMES PHELPS; George Weasley… OLIVER PHELPS; Ginny Weasley… BONNIE WRIGHT ; Amos Diggory… JEFF RAWLE;
Cedric Diggory… ROBERT PATTINSON; Viktor Krum… STANISLAV IANEVSKI; Rubeus Hagrid… ROBBIE COLTRANE; Madame Olympe Maxime FRANCES DE LA TOUR; Alastor 'MadEye' Moody BRENDAN GLEESON; Igor Karkaroff … PEDJA BJELAC; Severus Snape… ALAN RICKMAN; Minerva McGonagall … MAGGIE SMITH; Madame Olympe Maxime… FRANCES DE LA TOUR; Albus Dumbledore… MICHAEL GAMBON; Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody… BRENDAN GLEESON; Barty Crouch… ROGER LLOYD PACK; Cho Chang… KATIE LEUNG; Fleur Delacour… CLÉMENCE POÉSY; Rita Skeeter… MIRANDA RICHARDSON.
* Based on the regular $10.75 ticket prices of a Manhattan theater.
Reviewer: Joseph B. Mauceri
Score:
Related web link: THE GOBLET OF FIRE Official Site
Language: eng